FF7: Advent Shuffle III (2013)
by x-YaoiWolf-x
Summary: It's a Final Fantasy VII: Advent Shuffle Calendar x 3 Yes. I'm here doing this for another year. It's late, I know, I apologize! Does it really matter? Well, maybe, but please read anyway New readers, Returners, I hope everyone reads and follow along with me as I count down to Christmas for the third year in a row! Not Christmas Songs! Rated M, Just in case. M/M, F/F, M/F, Multi!
1. Let's Begin!

**~SHUFFLE CHALLENGE ADVENT CALENDER~**

**THE (Disfunctional) THIRD**

**AN:** Well, It's me again.

I wanted to do this one last time but it got off to a bad start, what with my laptop being caput and what not. Plus my time is all over the place with work and moving so, yeah, this thing isn't looking so good. That being said, I still want to do it. I say one last time because, well, I'm not sure if I should keep doing it every year. Believe it or not, I enjoy doing this! It's fun though frustrating sometimes, but really, I'd like to keep doing it. Seeing as this year isn't going to great, I'm wavering on my decision a bit at the moment, though.

So! I figured I'd do another shuffle this year and after that let the future sort itself out. So, hello to all you new readers~ Welcome back to any returning readers~ and I hope you all enjoy this!

This year, I've already started out poorly. Why? Because, as stated above, I have no computer. I'm borrowing my cousin's. He's stingy so I don't know how often I'll have the chance to do this, as proven by today's date. This is the first day of the countdown, but four days have already passed. I wrote these on the first. At least, this one and the next one. The third and fourth days were written today. I wanted this to seem as though I started it normally, though, so that's why.

With that logic, I've decided to do it just a little bit different this year. First, Instead of the standard TEN songs required of the challenge, I have chosen to just wing it. Every day will be a random number of songs depending on how much time I have the laptop for. So, look forward to it, ok? If I do end up doing it again next year, I'll return to the normal format, probably.

The rules remain the same, however, and that's basically it. If I skip a day it's because I don't have access to the computer. A song will not be skipped unless I wrote it on a previous day, repeats from previous years will still be written.

For those of you lovely people who are reading Advent Shuffle for the first time ever~ Here are the rules!

**Shuffle Challenge Rules**  
1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.  
2. Put your music program on shuffle and start playing songs.  
3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No preplanning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.  
4. Do this for ten songs

So yeah, random number of songs. As I've done every year, I'll go back each day and label each drabble with the Song Title, Artist, and Time Duration (min:sec) in bold above. I'll also label the pairing at the end in parenthesis. If there's no pairing (or the drabble can be considered neutral – as in friendship or general - there will be nothing written in the space where that label would usually go). That way you all can pick and choose which ones you want to read and skip the pairings you don't like if that's what you want.

Now! Let's get this party started~!

**CHOSEN THEME FOR ALL 25 DAYS OF 2013 SHUFFLE (Continues to be) FINAL FANTASY VII**

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 1, 2013**

**1000 Percent Love – Starish (Uta no Prince-sama) – 1:42**

"We're gonna sing our song so you all 'll be happy, yo!" Reno grinned to the crowd of fans in every direction.

"Are you ready?" Tseng asked, a smirk on perfect lips.

~Feel our heartbeat as it bursts with one thousand percent love~

Fangirls cheered from every seat in the open air theatre as seven males up on stage began singing the countdown.

**Room of Angel – Akira Yamaoka ft. Mary Elizabeth Glynn – 6:43**

Genesis' face twisted with scorn as he observed the loathed yet familiar woman step out of the mansion only meters away from where he watched. The figure had a familiar bored, almost annoyed, expression on her plain face. Familiar hands rummaging through what looked to be yet another brand new purse. Familiar sand-colored hair fell into familiar blue eyes. Familiar mansion, familiar door, familiar windows and curtains, familiar walkway, familiar yard. Very familiar orchard leading to an even more familiar village.

He despised it.

All of it.

But soon. Soon. It would be no more.

Genesis gave a slightly bitter laugh as he stepped from the shadows, allowing the woman now only a meter away to see him. Almost immediately, she stiffened, emitting a gasp as she took in the person standing before her. Genesis very deliberately allowed a smirk to grow across his lips.

"Genesis." The woman stated, sounding for all the world as if she had been expecting him and wanted nothing more than to be done with the tedious meeting. He could tell, however, how much his appearance had startled her and exactly how wary she now felt. He nodded in mock greeting.

"Mother."

He laughed in his mind as she grit her teeth at the address. She'd never liked it when he called her that. He'd never enjoyed calling such a person his mother, either, except when he'd noticed the ire it caused. It had been a constant source of petty amusement, he'd discovered. But now wasn't the time. He was here for a reason.

Nothing else was spoken as he surged forward, swiftly snatching her small frame in his hands. Too alarmed to exclaim, or perhaps not able to with one of his hands around her throat, Genesis savored the mixture of dread, panic and stark terror in those horridly familiar eyes. He chuckled, a deep sound of hysteria that chilled the woman down to her bones. It was the last thing she ever heard as everything that defined her, living and breathing, completely ceased to exist.

"Goodbye."

**Barbie Girl – Aqua – 3:17**

Cloud flung the frilly headpiece at the opposite wall with a growl. The object hit a grinning face on the other side of the apartment, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the other resident. The blond would've smirked had his ire been any less than it currently was.

"Aw man, what was that for?" Zack whined, pouting from where he'd just happened to walk in from the kitchen at the wrong time. Before he could receive an answer (as if Cloud would give one) a loud burst of laughter left the older male's throat. The echo of it hung in the subsequent silence.

Cloud stood, teeth grinding, fist clenched, glaring daggers at the other man.

Finally, the spiky-haired raven collected enough control to say, "You… you look good," only to go off into another fit of laughter. Cloud huffed and stalked forward on slim black three-and-a-half inch heels, only causing the idiot to laugh harder at how effortless the blonde made it look to walk in them. The enraged chocobo loomed over the now floored Zack Fair looking impressively menacing in a frilly black and white maid uniform.

The skirt barely managed to cover his ass where a long black tail fell with a large blue bow and bell on the end. Black sleeves reached to the tips of his fingers and a thin black collar sat strapped around his neck with white over the knee socks finishing the look. The cat-eared hairband that topped the whole thing off now sat on the carpet beside Zack where he was failing to keep his laughter in check.

Cloud glared furiously for another minute before frowling something that sounded like "Never again let Aerith and Tifa drag me into…" and stomped of in the direction of his room.

Zack grinned. Never again indeed. He'd have to get Aerith to give him a copy of the pictures.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **So yeah, day one. Hope you liked. I know it's only three for this day. These were written December First, Uploaded today – 12/4. Sorry for the delay. Hopefully, I won't skip so many days again for the remainder of the month.

Everyone enjoy this while I add author's notes to the other three days and make sure everything's alright with them. Also, I gotta eat dinner. All three should be up by midnight (my time – Sorry to all who live in areas where it's already December Fifth). Currently it's 7:50pm where I am.

Anyway, feel free to review this chapter, or wait for the actual December Fourth chapter. Please tell me what you think! Favorite, Alert, and Review or PM me~!


	2. Catching Up!

**AN: **I noticed I forgot to comment on my drabbles for Day one so! Favorite: Room of Angel. Why? Because It was the one that I had no basic ideas for at all. Usually I at least have a vague something to go on. So it was more fun. No repeats from years previous, I think. All in all, I liked them. None had pairings because they were neutral and or could be considered friendship.

**Big Wonderful Thank You to DarkHikariTwilight for the first review~! Thanks for returning to read another Advent Shuffle, it means so so much! :3**

And now, Day Two~

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 2, 2013**

**I Wanna Be Famous – Total Drama Series Theme – 1:01**

"We're doing what?!" Cloud all but yelped. Beside him, Sephiroth also looked rather shocked. Zack looked a little too excited from where he stood across the airship. Lazard only smiled.

"You all will have to sing."

**All Day and All of the Night – The Kinks – 2:23**

"Angeal," Sephiroth greeted the man who'd just walked into his office.

"Hey," the older SOLDIER nodded in greeting to his friend, not stepping further than one foot into the large space. Sephiroth raised a brow.

"Is everything alright, Angeal?" He inquired, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"Yes," the other man answered automatically.

"I do not believe it is, are you positive you do not need my assistance?"

Angeal paused for a moment then chuckled and turned with a wry smile on normally frowning features. Sephiroth waited for the Commander to speak. What was said was not what he expected at all.

"Zack is missing."

"He's with that cadet." Sephiroth answered, not having to think about it.

"Oh," was all Angeal replied, but he relaxed. Of course the puppy was with Cloud. They were practically inseparable these days.

**What I've Done – Linkin Park – 3:25**

The darkness was entirety in this place, wherever it was.

Genesis could feel everything and nothing in that moment as oblivion overtook him. Pain permeated every cell in his decaying body, yet somehow the feeling was dulling into nothingness; there but not. Not one muscle responded to any wish to move even the slightest twitch. Eyes he could not will to open remembered the last view of a barren land where a fruit he would never taste again once grew in abundance.

The Dream…

The impression of a sigh flittered across his thoughts. Such a dream could never come to pass.

Not now.

…Sephiroth…

'Angeal,' the thought resounded like a voice in the void. 'I am sorry…'

A sudden brightness flashed around him, causing to seize and withdraw almost completely into the surrounding darkness. He opened his eyes.

Green whisps of light began to coalesce, flowing about in any direction. Before him stood a woman.

The Goddess.

Was this his chance? Did he deserve a chance? Could there be redemption for someone such as he? Hope? Or despair? Would there be forgiveness? Or would he be forsaken?

After what he'd done?

Of course there could not be.

**Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley – 3:31 (ZackxCloud)**

He had been avoiding him for weeks and enough was enough. Zack was going to get a straight answer out of that little blond chocobo no matter what. Now all he had to do was find him.

It was a long time searching in every place imaginable (the looks he got when he peered into the trash bins were particularly hilarious) before he caught sight of the blonde trooper in question. The kid was squirreled into a corner of the library nearly buried behind walls of piled books.

What was he doing?

Zack couldn't keep the curiosity at bay and strolled forward greeting the young blond with a rather loud "Spiky!" He waved off the librarians glare and patted the head of blond spikes. He immediately noticed as a cute pink spread across the teen's nose and cheeks. He tilted his head in thought as he wondered about the action. That wasn't normal Cloudy behavior. Keeping his hand where it sat on the blonde's head, Zack took in the many books sitting around him. He smirked as he put two and two together, pulling up a random book from the table.

"Symptoms of Love," the raven-haired SOLDIER read aloud, a grin forming as wide blue eyes snapped up, slightly panicked. He chuckled as the red on the younger male's face flared brighter. "Should I consider this your answer, Cloudy?"

Cloud, for his part could only stare as the man, who was his best friend and had gradually become something more, leaned forward and deliberately slowly captured his lips with his own. Zack pulled away and smiled.

"Now you're stuck with me, and I'm never gonna let you get away."

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **End of Day Two~! There were four stories for that day. Repeats: Never Gonna Give You Up, and, I Wanna Be Famous. Favorite: I didn't really like any one of them enough to have a favorite. They were all kind of normal. But YAY! First drabble with a pairing~ It was ZackxCloud because for some reason I tend to think Zack with Cloud when I hear this song, as evidenced by previous years.

So now I'm off to edit the days Three and Four! Review this chapter if you all want or continue to wait for today's real chapter! PM, Alert, and Favorite~!


	3. Getting There!

**AN: **Day Three~

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 3, 2013**

**Disturbia – The Cab (cover) – 4:01**

Jenova was a being beyond any other. An essence like a virus, a disease of the mind, none were safer from her reach in this place. She would crawl into your weakest points, creeping through the darkness that lurked inside everyone and exploiting it. She was something truly cunning in her ruthlessness.

This was a knowledge they all possessed, and yet there seemed to be no way to stop her. No opportunity or fault they could discover and attempt to use against her. Countless numbers were falling at every moment they fought against this woman. This Calamity from the Skies. Was there no way to keep her at bay if not completely eradicate her?

It wasn't until that fateful day that they learned the answer to this question.

No one could have foreseen the tragedy that had befallen them. One moment they were all gathered discussing the latest developments in the eternal fight for survival against Jenova and the next…

There had been a commotion, a warning from she who they had no idea was not who she was – controlled by Jenova, as she was. He had gone to her, not knowing (none of them had). An attack, and exchange of words, Anger…

Both had suddenly disappeared. A sacrifice made.

An unstoppable force frozen with no guarantee that she would never again be free but a vague hope that it was a possibility.

An unstoppable force…

Jenova's deceptively beautiful visage twisted in a superior smirk of triumph.

**Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jespen – 3:13 (TifaxAerith)**

Tifa shut her eyes tightly and tossed several gil into the fountain before had been her habit for almost as long as she could remember. Every day for years, since she was seven years old, the mayor's daughter had trudged over to the fountain in the middle of the village and made a wish. Always the same.

She wanted someone.

Not just any someone, but the perfect someone.

Someone that would love her. Someone she could love.

She didn't know who it would be, but whoever it was, somehow, she would just know it.

When Tifa ran away from home at the age of sixteen, her daily wishing never stopped. No matter where she'd gone, if there was a fountain in went some gil and she wished. If there wasn't one, she'd wish in the ocean or a river or even a swamp.

Today it was the same.

There was a fountain in Loveless Square and, like every day, she'd come to wish. Unlike every day, there was someone else at the fountain. Warm, ruby chocolate eyes stared in wonder at the pair of brilliant emerald across from her. Those eyes smiled back at her, wavy brown bangs falling into them. This was her someone.

Her wish.

**Who Can It Be Now – Men At Work – 3:25**

Zack sat in his favorite sofa chair completely and utterly regretting what he had just seen. That was some seriously scary stuff. Terrifying for someone with such an overactive imagination. For Zack, it was particularly disconcerting. Zackary Fair was one extremely paranoid puppy at the moment. He was never watching Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven again. Ever!

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. The puppy jumped at the sound. Not at all wanting to get up and see who it could be, he opted to sink further into his chair and hope that whoever it was went away. When minutes passed and nothing happened, the raven-haired man began to relax and flip mindlessly through the limited channels on his outdated television.

Knock. Knock Knock.

Zack nearly dropped the remote. "…Who is it?" He called hesitantly from his chair. No answer came, but he did not relax. Moments later another knock came. More followed quickly after it. When they began to get frantic, Zack called out again. "I swear those were free samples! I didn't steal them!"

There was a pause in the knocking. Then it started again.

"Sephiroth! I swear it was Genesis! I didn't do anything! Promise!" Excuses began to fly from his mouth as the knocking continued to grow in volume. "No, Cloud! I didn't suggest anything about cross-dressing to Aerith! I swear to Gaia!"

A click echoed in the house and Zack froze, watching as the door opened slowly and a large shadowed form stepped into the room. Later, he would completely deny that he screamed when Angeal stomped into the room, scowling and dripping wet from the storm outside.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Yay for the first Yuri and second pairing of this countdown! I liked that last one. The movie in my head made me laugh as I read it over just now. If you wanna know why Angeal was knocking, it was because he didn't have his keys for some reason. He's upset because Zack wouldn't answer and he had to go to the trouble of getting the spare key from wherever he hid it (which isn't in the normal places like the door frame or under the mat so it's a hassle. I enjoyed the second drabble, too, though I personally think that song is annoying. Don't ask me why I have it if I don't really like it. Bottom line is it's because the stupid thing got stuck in my head. Oh, on that note, The music I'm using is from my phone! Because my computer, as I've mentioned, is dead.

So Favorite! Who Can It Be Now. Repeats? Disturbia. Three again on this day because I worked yesterday and I wrote this just before sleeping because I went in at 5 and got off at 10 and I was tired.

Funny coincidence! Disturbia is something like a shout out to **DarkHikariTwilight**'s Full Circle as a thank you for reading, reviewing, and sticking with it all month last year~ Now here you are again! Thanks so much~ I completely forgot I'd written that for you.

Thank you, everyone! Please review now or next chapter, I don't mind which. PM, Alert, and Review!


	4. And I'm Here!

**AN: **Finally, Day Four~ Hopefully from now on I can stay on track, though the chapters might continue to be only three to four stories each… I'll try to at least keep it at Five like I did last year. One or two more stories shouldn't be too hard to squeeze in right? It all depends on how generous my cousin is feeling with his laptop at the time, though. We'll see how that works.

Anyway, Here is the official chapter for today (night in my case cause it's very close to midnight now)…

Day Four!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 4, 2013**

**Let It Whip – The Treblemakers (A capella cover * Pitch Perfect) – 2:21**

"No!" Elena cried, beyond fed up with the men in front of her. They'd been there for a few hours already and still something just wasn't right! "One more time! All the way through. I'll figure this out." She ordered the eight men sitting in various places on the bleachers in the gym/rec room where they usually practiced. Some of them (Sephiroth, Cloud, Genesis) groaned, some (Angeal, Tseng, Rufus) sighed. Reno loudly exclaimed that if they kept this up he'd lose his voice, yo. Zack laughed.

Elena honestly didn't care. Tomorrow was the day all the clubs at the university attempted to recruit as many members as possible and more members were always a good thing. The problem was that for some reason this song just wasn't sounding like it should.

Elena nodded to her fellow manager beside her and Rude gave a silent signal. All eight men sang. A chorus of voices in different pitch and keys.

"~Whip It~"

**Whispers in the Dark – Skillet – 3:24 (SephirothxZackxCloud)**

The nightmares were getting worse. It was impossible not to notice. Cloud was more distant, seemingly forcing himself to keep closed off from the other two. There were permanent dark circles beneath his eyes and some days it seemed like he could barely manage to stumble along during drills and training. It had become increasingly apparent that he wasn't sleeping well. Today it was made perfectly clear that this was a serious detriment to his health and status as a SOLDIER.

Zack had rushed to the infirmary as if he had wings, bowling people over to reach the blond faster. He had nearly given both of them a heart attack when Sephiroth's secretary (thank Gaia for that wonderful woman) had suddenly informed him that their youngest lover had collapsed on the track this morning. Sephiroth had not been in a position to rush as Zack had but the minute he'd gotten off duty, the General had headed down to the hospital wing and drilled every detail he could out of the doctor in charge.

Cloud was exhausted and slightly malnourished and had not woken up at all. They had stuck him with an IV for hydration and nutrients and were observing him. The silver-haired man had demanded more than asked to take Cloud, and thankfully the doctor had cleared the blond to leave as long as they continued to watch him and immediately return if anything happened.

Now both Sephiroth and Zack sat on either side of their lover, watching as he slept peacefully in the deepest sleep he'd had in months.

"Seph…" Zack looked up with worried violet eyes. Sephiroth sighed and nodded.

They had to do something. This could not go on.

**Rojiura no Uchuu Shounen (Back Alley Spaceboy) – The Cobra Twisters (Dai-Guard Theme) – 3:27**

"Take this, you bastard!" Zack roared as he manipulated the controls for the giant robot's right hand. The resulting punch sent the giant alien enemy flying into a skyscraper while also causing the large mech to stumble back several kilometers.

"Hey!"

"Puppy!"

"Zack!"

The other four in the cockpit sent angry looks at him in varying degrees of annoyance for the sudden action.

"Please attempt to warn us next time, Zackary," Genesis huffed, moving to adjust the left leg controls and right their stance.

"Yes, Pup, there's no need to show off," his mentor lightly scolded beside him as he also moved the right leg into a better position. Cloud nodded to both statements from his spot at the main controls, trying to keep the power levels even and direct the correct amount for each movement to the corresponding pilot's consoles.

"It is moving again," the familiar calm baritone of Sephiroth informed. "The next strike should end it. Cloud!"

"Yes!" the blonde moved his fingers across the screen, sending extra power to the left hand for Sephiroth's finishing strike. The other four men each worked together with practiced ease, maneuvering the machine to execute a perfect Omnislash.

As the slimy alien bitch fell, Cloud couldn't help but sigh, wondering exactly how much of their pay would be deducted to cover the damage they had caused to the city this time.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Done! That ends today, and I've caught up. Unfortunately, I spent the time I had with the laptop today uploading and fixing up/author's noting these chapters and writing today's. So I'm going to have to hope I can get it tomorrow for tomorrow's drabbles. My cousin's taking this back because it's now 11:30 at night. So, three again, but like I said, maybe five tomorrow.

Now. Favorite! Dai-Guard~ Cause the concept made me wish I'd written more and I love Giant Robot anime. I'm glad I got a chance to write that. Repeats? Whispers in the Dark …well, it's something that belongs in the same universe as the one for the same song last year. I dunno, I just wrote it. The first one was blah. And Yay! First threesome drabble~!

So, I'm caught up! Please review, everyone~ Favorite, Alert, and PM me! Lot of love to all you amazing readers and I hope you all continue to read along as I count down to Christmas. There are only 21 days left!


	5. Fifth Day of December, 20 days left!

**AN:** In most of the world it's the Fifth right now, and my cousin gave me the laptop back cause he decided to be nice tonight~ So I'm doing this! Here you are, everyone, Day Five~!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 5, 2013**

**Life Is A Highway – Rascal Flatts – 4:36 - ASGZC**

"Road trip?"

"Well, something like it," Angeal explained to the young blond currently sitting in the center of their bed. The SOLDIER was rummaging through drawers and stuffing various objects and articles of clothing into a large duffel bag. Cloud, for the most part, was watching him while attempting to stay out of everyone's way. Just then, someone came barging into the room with a huff.

"Angeal, have you seen my favorite pillow? I can't find it," Genesis Rhapsodos asked as he began bustling about the room in his quest for the missing object. He absently pet blonde spikes as he passed the bed, and Cloud smiled as he watched his eldest lover search. With a hope of being useful, Cloud stood up and left the master bedroom they all shared to try and help. Walking into the living room, he spotted a familiar head of spiky black hair peeking from behind his view of the couch. He could hear Zack muttering about which gaming console would be okay to take with them and which games and movies were best. Cloud decided to leave the man to it and continue looking elsewhere. He didn't see the red pillow in question in the living room anyway.

In the kitchen, Sephiroth stood in with the cabinets open cataloging what they had and what they would take or buy on the road. Cloud carefully stayed out of his way as he glanced about the kitchen. Not here either. The only places left to search were the bathrooms and spare bedroom. Checking the bathrooms first, Cloud discovered that Angeal had finished up in the bedroom and was now packing their various toiletries. No pillow was in either bathroom, however, or that left the last room.

Cloud grinned as he found Genesis some minutes later and presented the purplish, red apple shaped pillow. Genesis smiled and hugged him, gifting him with a pleasantly long kiss of gratitude, and waltzed off. Presumably, Cloud assumed, to start the RV.

Half a year travelling around Gaia with his four lovers~ If all his birthday gifts were surprises like this, he would never complain.

**Happy Song – Liam Lynch – 1:00**

Zack tilted his head as he suddenly heard a rather odd… something. Curious, he stood to investigate. Reaching the room that belonged to a certain adorable blonde chocobo, Zack Fair pushed the door open.

"Cloud?"

"Yes, Zack?" the blonde answered in a cheerful tone, turning blue eyes and content smile towards his roommate and best friend.

"Are you alright?"

"Perfect!" the boy beamed.

"Oh," Zack blinked. "Ok then," He grinned before leaving. One step later, a loud crash resounded in the room he'd just left followed by language he had only ever heard from that one ex-pilot in rocket town.

**He's A Pirate – KH2 OST – 1:29**

"Why are we doing this?" Genesis had to ask as he watched Zack attempt to wrestle a hat onto a certain trooper's wild blonde spikes. He absently wondered if he could ditch the eyepatch the raven-haired pup had foisted on him without the young man noticing. He'd have to try later.

"Talk like a Pirate day, Gen~!"

Genesis rolled his eyes. Of course…

**Sad But True – Metallica – 5:24**

Sephiroth observed this equal and opposite being that claimed to be him. There was definitely a resemblance, though the color scheme seemed to be uncannily reversed. While he normally had silver hair, green eyes, and wore black leather; this person-thing-entity was flipped. Long straight black hair fell like water, flowing across a well-built back and firm shoulders. Knee high white boots covered sculpted legs, silver buckles complimented both the boots and the pair of white leather pants held up with a black belt which also held a silver buckle. A white duster, exactly the style of Sephiroth's covered the rest of him except for his chest where two plain white straps crossed, the ends of the sleeves, collar, and tail of the coat were trimmed with black.

What struck him the most, however, was not the man's attire but his eyes. Cat slit, but a different color. Where Sephiroth's were a striking mako green, his were a stark icy violet.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth could not allow himself to believe that this man was he. Only, he could be himself. Anyone else claiming to be him was nothing more than a liar and a fraud.

The man grinned, a long sadistic smirk of a grin. The answer he gave was the same as before.

"I am you."

**I'm Too Sexy – Right Said Fred – 2:53 (GenesisxCloud)**

Genesis walked confidently across the long stage, turning swiftly after posing at the end of the catwalk, a confident grin on bow lips. Flashes went off all around him as he walked back where he'd just come from, he winked at the next model coming down the walkway.

Adorable yet alluring with messy spikes of blonde hair, the open black vest the younger model sported left nothing and everything to the imagination as it fluttered with every step the teen young man took. Genesis smirked and licked his lips as he disappeared behind the stage.

"I know that expression," Angeal, his manager and best friend, spoke as he handed the redhead his next outfit. "Who is it this time?"

Genesis didn't say anything, only slipping into the tight red leather pants and black sleeveless ribbed turtle-neck. He smirked as he prepared to go back out.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **FIVE! Yay, I wrote five drabbles for the Fifth! Though, it's only because my cousin fell asleep a while after he let me keep using the laptop and so I took the opportunity to do this now. No guarantee for the remaining days, but here's hoping! And Yays and Hoorays for the first ASGZC! and on a lesser but no less wonderful note, WooHoo for GenesisxCloud!

Favorite of the Day was probably I'm Too Sexy since that was the most fun for me to write, the others were kind of meh. Repeats are He's a Pirate (which has continued to be a Talk Like A Pirate Day gag) and Sad But True (which I decided to make as a continuation of the same song in 2011).

Anyway, I'm going to bed cause where I am it is 0100 hours on December 5. Twenty days left to Christmas, people! Hope you've got your plans down and shopping done!

Please review, pm, favorite and alert! I hope everyone continues to countdown to Christmas with me this year as well! Much Love~!


	6. Day 6!

**AN: **Day Six! Many thanks to everyone who's reading along and a very big THANK YOU to DarkHikariTwilight for your continuous support and reviewing! And now, Today~

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 6, 2013**

**Milkshake – Goodnight Nurse (cover) – 2:28 – ASGZC**

Cloud sighed as he began his work shift for the day, tying the plain black apron around his waist and clipping his nametag to its usual place on the left pocket. The bell that hung above the door rang as it was pushed open and in walked a customer.

The auburn-haired customer had his nose buried in a book. Cloud didn't bother to greet him, knowing he wouldn't be listening. He was proven correct when the man moved directly to a chair in the corner, ignoring the rest of the world.

Almost immediately, two other customers stepped in. A burly man with stubble on his chin and a frown on his face followed by a younger looking man with a porcupine for hair and a wide happy grin. Both men came up and ordered simple coffees.

Cloud danced by himself as he prepared the drinks, unaware that he was drawing attention from the other men in the room. The chime of the bell sounded again as he was finishing the drinks and he turned. A smile spread on his lips at the person standing there.

"Sephiroth!"

The silver-haired man smiled, "Cloud."

"Milkshake?" The man nodded and walked over to sit with the first customer, purposely knocking the book he held to annoy him. "I'll be off in fifteen minutes," he informed them and all four smiled in his direction. Cloud beamed. Slow days at the café were the best.

**She Wolf – Shakira – 4:33**

"I was never here!" Cloud tilted his head in confusion as a certain teen wolf barged into his office and disappeared into the first door she could reach. Seconds later another familiar wolf popped his head into the room, scanning about for something. Cloud wasn't sure what.

"Cloud! Have you seen Yuffie?" Zack asked the blonde when he didn't immediately find her in the office. Cloud shrugged and answered with a deadpan 'No' not having an inclination to get into whatever it was those two were doing.

"Hm…" The spiky-haired werewolf narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "Ok, thanks," he grinned. "I'll look this way then!" And he rushed off. Cloud only shook his head and continued to work, ignoring the sudden giggling emitting from his storage closet.

"Cloud!" the blonde almost jumped when Zack burst once more into his workspace. From the rather loud thump and hiss that came from the closet, Yuffie had been just as surprised.

"What?"

"She's not in the house. Are you sure you haven't seen her?" Zack sounded suspicious, emphasizing the word sure and leaning into the younger wolf's personal space. Cloud only rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome to have a look."

"I will."

"Alright then." And Cloud ignored anything else that went on from that point. Whatever Yuffie had done, she could face the consequences or get out of it herself. With any luck, Angeal would get home soon and sort those two out himself.

**Stand – REM – 3:14**

"Where the hell are we, yo?!" Reno huffed, not at all happy with this turn of events. He was this close to simply snapping and setting the entire Gaia forsaken forest on fire. "How did I ever let you get us into this mess?" A few steps ahead of the redhead, Zack was attempting to determine which way they presumably needed to go – for the thirteenth time.

"Relax, Reno," Zack drawled, not fazed at all by their apparent lack of any sense of direction. "I'm almost eighty-six percent positive that Nibelheim is this way." He pointed in a seemingly random direction and Reno had to keep himself from jumping the man. He was almost one hundred percent sure that Zack had absolutely no clue what he was doing and following him any longer would only lead to getting even more lost. If that happened they could both kiss their ride back to Midgar adios, because Tseng would not wait around for him when it was his own fault they were missing.

"Goddess dammit, Zack! Just admit you have no idea where we are or where we're going!" Zack huffed and crossed his arms, turning to face the irritated redhead.

"I do! Look, the sun sets in the east, right? So, all we need to do is go the opposite way and we'll get there in no time!" Reno looked seconds from strangling the Puppy.

"The sun. sets. in the WEST!" he all but growled. Zack blinked.

"Oh…"

**If Today Was Your Last Day – Nickelback – 4:08**

'I never had a chance to do a lot of the things I wish I would have when I was younger,' Cloud's mother's words suddenly echoed in his mind as he sat in the back of the transport attempting to calm his roiling stomach. Across from him sat his best friend, Lieutenant Zack Fair, and the Silver General Sephiroth. All three of them, plus one other trooper, were on their way to his hometown, the backwater mountain town of Nibelheim, for an impromptu mission commissioned by Professor Hojo. Something about an emergency check on the reactor. It hadn't sounded that important, but the President had quickly ordered the closest group to check it out.

The closest group being them, it seemed. Just that morning, the four of them had been on an assignment to clear out a nest of irregular monsters in Rocket Town. Cloud shook his head, what his mother had once said in passing still hung in the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure why they would suddenly come back to him at this moment. He was only sixteen, he had plenty of time to do the things he wanted, even if he had failed to get into SOLDIER.

SOLDIER…

Maybe, when this mission was over, he would take Zack's advice and try again. He hadn't failed by much the last time, it wasn't as if he couldn't attempt the testing more than once. Perhaps this time he would be accepted. With a resolute nod to himself, Cloud decided. As soon as this mission was done and they returned to Midgar, Cloud would ask Zack to help him train and work even harder to reach his goal and become a SOLDIER.

Just as soon as this mission was over.

**Uptown Girl – Billy Joel – 3:17 (ZackxAerith)**

Zack snickered as he dashed through the filth of the slums with the gil he'd snatched. He was about to head back to the hideout to meet up with the rest of the gang, when something pink caught his observant violet gaze. Stopping in the shadow of an alleyway, the teen watched as a girl who looked about the same age as him wandered about the streets. Bright, wavy brown hair fell in a braid down her back and bangs fell neatly around her heart-shaped face and into brilliant green eyes. Wearing a nice blue sundress with strappy sandals and a denim mid-cut jacket, she obviously didn't belong there.

Zack, for his part, felt that this could only be fate. She seemed lost, and who better to help her find her way than Zack Fair? He stepped out of the alley and approached.

"Are you lost?"

Aerith nearly jumped at the sudden voice that came from beside her. Turning she met warm violet eyes and a cheerful grinning face. It was a man about her age. Just looking at him she could tell that he lived down here. Somehow she had wandered into the slums entirely by accident on her customary walk about the plate. Aerith didn't realize that she had been spacing out until a hand was suddenly waved before her face.

"Hello?"

"Excuse me!" Aerith frowned. "I heard you. Please don't wave in my face."

"Heh, sorry," Zack scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Are you lost?"

Aerith narrowed her gaze but the other merely grinned and she sighed. "Yes"

Neither knew what that encounter would lead to, but that's a story for another day…

**Blue – Eiffel 65 – 3:31**

Sephiroth let out a deep sigh of bliss as the hot water fell with just the right pressure to relax his sore muscles. It had been an uncomfortably long time since he had had a decent wash and now that he was home and had access to his large glass shower he was more than content to spend longer than necessary getting clean before having a soak in the tub.

An hour passed before he left the shower. He didn't bother with drying off as he simply walked over to his personal hot tub and slipped in. Leaning back and allowing the jets to massage, he found himself dozing in intervals, simply enjoying it.

It was when he finally got out and dried off that all the calm and comfortable feelings snapped. A fist broke the glass of the mirror, sending millions of shards in every direction.

Sephiroth could care less.

"Lietenant!"

The roar that left him could be heard on both floors above and below the one he resided on. Just down the hall, Zack Fair winced and flew from the room, hoping to be at the elevator and going down before the silver demon came looking for him.

Back in his quarters, Sephiroth threw on a random pair of pants and stormed from the room. Zackary Fair would pay for this. He would not escape the wrath of The General.

As the man stomped through the halls, no one had the courage or even the inclination to mention the vivid blue color that had replaced the silver of their superior's famous hair.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Ha, yeah. Yay! Six today. It's actually an accomplishment that I managed that. I thought I was going to have to stop at three again. But that thing I had to go and do never happened and so I got to stay longer and do this. So woot.

Favorite! Uptown Girl, not because I wrote it well – cause I could've written that better, but because I love the story I came up with! And Yays for the first Het Pairing – ZackxAerith, canon. Of all Het, this is the only one I really like for the FF7 verse. Repeats? Blue, If Today, Stand, and Milkshake. All of which I think were way better than previous years. Of those, If Today and Blue were the best. Blue was written as an answer to the question of last year's story for the same song – What did Zack do and why was Sephiroth smirking? So there's your answer.

As Always, Thanks for reading! Please all, review~! PM, Alert, and Favorite! 19 days left until Christmas. I still have shopping to do… sigh.


	7. Woot, more stories!

**AN: **I haven't brought this up yet and that's because I forgot but I'll say it now. You are all welcome to make full stories out of any of my drabbles if you want to. All you have to do is ask me, because I might want to write that story myself (though usually I won't). So yeah, just thought I'd put that out there.

Many thanks to everyone who's reading this as evidenced by the traffic stats. Though not many of you review. I don't mind as long as you read! Much Love to **Fauryn** and **bookworm4ever81** for Favorite-ing and alerting! AND Love and Thanks as always to **DarkHikariTwilight **for the constant reviews! x)

And Now – Day Seven!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 7, 2013**

**Gotta Catch 'em All – Pokemon Theme – 1:01**

"Has anyone seen…," Genesis didn't get a chance to finish his question.

"To protect the world from devastation!" Zack suddenly popped up from behind the couch. A beat later, a familiar spiky-haired blonde continued.

**What Does the Fox Say? – Ylvis – 3:44**

There weren't many things that could worry, unnerve, or annoy Commander Tseng of the Turks. With that logic, it could be safely assumed that there was nothing that could possible do all three at once. And yet…Suffice to say, there now existed one thing that could make Tseng worried, on edge, and irritated all in one go. That was…

"Reno!"

Tseng sighed when his door slammed open, hitting the wall with a crash that did not sound good for the wall, and in stomped a furious Elena. A furry, red animal dangled in her left hand. Tseng raised an eyebrow in silent question. 'What did he do now?'

At first, Tseng had been concerned when half of the day went by without so much a glimpse of the redhead who was usually impossible to get rid of. It had been late, as in after midnight late, last night that Tseng discovered a mischievous young fox seemingly raiding the Turk break room for food. After some effort attempting to capture it, he'd taken it home. It wasn't until this morning that he discovered the animal's true identity, but that was a different story entirely. It had alarmed him when he put two and two together and came to the conclusion that this was his second in command.

Now, here he sat with a fox for a Turk subordinate who, he'd found out the hard way, could be three times as annoying when he was smaller and even more agile, lack of human speech not an issue for the redhead at all. The Commander of the Turks could only pray to Gaia that Hojo could come up with a way to reverse this as soon as possible.

**Splash Free – Style Five – 3:58**

"If you join the club…"

"I can swim," Cloud finished his best friend's sentence. The raven-haired teen who called himself his best friend blinked at that, not having expected the blond to agree so readily. Usually, it would take some trying to get the swimming obsessed teen to join their newly formed swim club. Zack shook his head and shrugged, maybe it had something to do with seeing GenGen the other day at the old pool. Yeah, that was probably it.

Zack grinned and leaned forward to help his friend who was already standing to get out of the tub. It was an odd habit of the blonde's, soaking in the tub for no particular reason other than to feel the water on his skin. Cloud reached up to accept the hand Zack was offering and hoisted himself from the water, dripping everywhere as he towel-dried his spikes. Zack nagged at him to quit dripping water all over the floor, but he ignored it. It was his house, he could do what he wanted. Beside them, Reno smirked and handed another towel to Zack so that he could dry the floor himself.

"You see," the redhead drawled. "I told you it'd be easy, yo! When has Cloudy ever turned down a chance to swim?"

"…" Zack had no answer for that and Reno smirked.

"Exactly, yo! Never," Reno grinned and crossed his arms behind his head. "Now all we need is one more member!"

"Oh, Oh!" Zack exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. Cloud and Reno both looked over at him. Zack clapped his hands together as a familiar name left his lips. "Sephiroth!"

"Sephiroth?" Reno tilted his head, beside him Cloud gaped. "Really, yo?"

"Yeah! Seph would be perfect, he can swim and he's graceful. I'm sure he'd join if we asked him," Zack reasoned. Reno scoffed.

"Good luck with that, yo."

**I Just Wanna Live – Good Charlotte – 2:46 – ASGZC**

Cloud ran right at Sephiroth the second the silver-haired man stepped into the house. Angeal and Genesis entered behind him and Zack followed close behind. All of them paused in the entrance when they saw the way their little blonde was clinging. Zack spoke up first.

"Chocobo? What's wrong?" the spiky-haired brunet asked, hovering around the blonde's form while Sephiroth hugged him. A large hand fell into yellow spikes, petting in a soothing motion as Angeal came forward with a frown of concern on his face.

"Did something happen?" the large SOLDIER asked. Beside him Genesis was attempting to pry the teen off of Sephiroth so that he could speak properly. Cloud pulled back and took a deep breath to calm himself then faced his four lovers.

"We need to get a security system for this house."

All four older men blinked at what their youngest lover had just said.

"Security… like an alarm system?" Genesis asked. The blonde nodded and they each wondered why he would say something like that.

"Why?" Zack finally asked.

"I caught two fangirls hiding in Seph's closet! And two more under Zack and Angeal's blankets! In their beds! I'm too scared to check Genesis' room, but I'm sure there's at least one in there, too!"

Once the facts set in, all four of them agreed with Cloud's earlier demand. Now, all they had to do was check under Genesis' bed.

**Prelude 12/21- AFI – 1:34 – ASGZC**

He couldn't be serious, but it couldn't be a joke.

"Cloud…" Surprisingly, it was Sephiroth who spoke first, his voice not its usual confident monotone. No other words left him. Only his name. He could think of nothing else to say.

Zack failed to keep himself upright as the news sunk in. He sunk into the chair before him and for once was entirely silent. Genesis and Angeal hadn't said anything either. Cloud closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting all of their eyes again.

"Just do me one favor?" He smiled, the smallest smile he'd ever given. "Kiss me goodbye."

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **ASGZC, yays! And on that note, I've finished day seven. Only five today. It's later than I'd like to have written/uploaded this, but I worked this morning and my cousin wasn't home when I got home so I had to wait for the laptop. Either way, I hope you all liked today's drabbles.

Favorite of the Day was probably Splash Free! Because I liked the picture in my head when I paralleled Free! with FF7 characters. Repeats were Pokemon and Prelude (i'm pretty sure). Prelude 12/21 was a continuation or maybe prequel of the same song in 2011… and the song 24 by Jem in 2012. I liked it. I think over the years I've written enough in that particular 'verse that I might create a decent oneshot or short multi-chap with that concept in mind. Maybe.

Anyway! Thanks again for reading, everybody, and I hope you all continue to follow and countdown with me. PM, Favorite, Alert and Review! 18 days until Christmas. See you all again tomorrow!


	8. it's off to work I go

**AN: **Day Eight! It's late for me, or early depending on how you look at it. Almost an hour past midnight, only barely the eighth where I'm at. But, I work at 2am today so I stole the laptop and I'm gonna spend the time until then writing and uploading this. Besides, it's December eighth in most of the world already, anyway. So here we go~ Day Eight!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 8, 2013**

**Thrift Shop – Mackelmore; Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz – 3:57**

Angeal felt a sense of accomplishment as he walked through the hall to his apartment, several bags in each hand. He'd found some great things while shopping today and he hardly spent any gil. Yes, it had been a good day in wall market. Angeal actually whistled as he unlocked the door and strolled into his home. He received odd looks from the people inside, but he hardly noticed, humming as he placed his bags on the coffee table in the living room.

"Uh, 'Geal?" Zack sounded wary of asking but couldn't keep his curiosity from getting the better of him. Angeal looked at him with a pleased smile that looked out of place on his usually frowning face. "Are you okay?"

"Perfect," the man's frown returned for a second. "Why?"

"Uh, no reason," Zack shrugged. His gaze fell to the bags on the table in front of him and he quickly changed the subject. "What's that?" He almost regretted it when the satisfied smile returned to his mentor's face.

"I bought some stuff." Across from Zack on the sofa chair, Genesis looked surprised. Angeal bought something? Mr. Scrooge, penny pincher, Angeal? Was that more than one bag on that table? How much did the man spend? From Zack's next sentence, he was thinking the same thing.

"You bought something?"

"Wanna see?" The burly SOLDIER almost sounded giddy. Despite themselves, both men couldn't help but nod. What could he have bought? Without further prompting, Angeal began pulling things from the bags. After the first few items, both Zack and Genesis wished they hadn't asked. They now understood Angeal's elated mood as they watched him pull out one used and/or outdated thing. Only someone as stingy with their money as Angeal Hewley would ever buy any of it, so of course it hadn't cost much. Simultaneously, they resolved never to let the man buy their clothes for them.

**I Ran – Bowling for Soup (cover) – 2:34 (GenesisxCloud)**

Cloud took refuge in the shade and caught his breath. It felt like he'd been running forever, though it had only been the better of part of the day, and even that was still a ridiculous amount of time to be sprinting about the ShinRa complex.

Many an odd look had been sent his way as he'd raced through the halls, weaving through people and around corners He'd even jumped entire flights of stairs at one point. If anyone had asked, the bottom line was that he was playing tag.

A very long, very deadly game of tag.

A flash of red caught the corner of Cloud's eye right then and he panicked. He ran and prayed that he wouldn't be caught. Luck was not on his side today, it seemed, and a second later he was hitting the thankfully grassy floor with extra force. The blonde groaned, not enjoying the taste of dirt and green in his mouth. Above and behind him, his lover chuckled.

"Caught you, Cloud Strife," Genesis purred into his ear.

**Our House – Madness – 3:18 – ASGZC**

"Sephiroth! Have you seen my SOLDIER uniform?" Angeal called, only half awake as he padded down the hall from his room. He'd woken up late and was not pleased. Now he couldn't find his uniform. At least they all lived only three floors above their offices, no need to spend extra time commuting. From the living room, Sephiroth answered in monotone.

"It's in the laundry room on top of the dryer." Angeal nodded and turned in that direction. Sephiroth sighed and sipped his coffee. Today was his day off, but that didn't mean the rest of them were off as well. Unfortunately, this left him to look after them in the way Angeal usually did every morning. He hadn't known it was possible to be this annoyed or tired this early in the morning. Apparently, in this house, it was.

"My Friend, your desire is the bringer of life the gift of the Goddess," Genesis quoted from the kitchen, waiting for his poptarts to pop up from the toaster.

"Loveless Act Three," Cloud muttered in his sleep and Sephiroth snorted. The blonde had fallen asleep beside him on the couch while waiting for the others so that they could all leave together. The General found it amusing that the trooper could cite Loveless even in his sleep. Just then the doorbell rang and Sephiroth groaned when the door opened and in waltzed an obnoxiously grinning redhead.

"Reno!" Seconds later, a certain Puppy came barging from his room and tackled the Turk.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and groaned, praying that everyone would leave quickly so that he might be allowed to have a nap.

**Mambo No.5 – Lou Bega – 3:31 – ASGZC and AerithxCissneixElenaxTifa**

Cloud had never bothered to wonder if their relationship was normal. It had never occurred to him to think anything of it at all except that it was nice and he was loved. Likewise, the other four men in that relationship felt the same. In their minds, it was simple. Outside, it was not, but still it was not something they felt they'd ever be willing to give up.

That's why one day when Tifa of all people had brought it up, Cloud had answered with complete and contented honesty. The face she'd made had been priceless, though at the time he hadn't had a chance to laugh. No. At the time, he'd been hurt and not a bit infuriated at the things Tifa had been saying. Accusations and attempts to get him to call the entire relationship off, it had been awful for him to listen to. It had taken a bit (read: a lot) of patience and self-control to sit there and let her finish her rant at him. When she had finished, though, Cloud had stood up, rage in his normally calm blue eyes, and laid into her. He hadn't been mean, hadn't called her anything close to what she had called him and his, but he had not been happy.

Needless to say, that had been the last time he'd spoken to her and she hadn't tried to talk to him since even when he'd told her she could call or text him when she saw the error of her ways and to apologize. He would still be her friend. Cloud shook his head of those lingering thoughts and looked back down at the invitation that had begun all of this. He supposed this meant that Tifa had reconsidered and was probably sorry. He smiled. That's all they needed, after all. A little bit of the ones they loved and nothing else.

-You are cordially invited to the wedding of Aerith Gainsborough and Cissnei and Elena and Tifa Lockhart on xx day of xxx year at-

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **I leave it to your imaginations to determine what Angeal bought and why Genesis was chasing Cloud. Imagine what you want for whatever it is Tifa called and or insinuated about Cloud during their talk, as well. If you can't tell, I strongly dislike Tifa (though she's amazing in her own right). Obviously, as evidenced by Call Me Maybe on a previous day and the end of this drabble, I don't absolutely hate her. She just irks the hell out of me on most days, is all.

For some reason, It feels like the pairings this year aren't very diversified and that's probably because the pairings I've done most are ASGZC with very few on the side. Not my fault, that's the way the songs and ideas come. But I'll try and expand the choices when I write pairings. This batch had a new pairing I've not used in any shuffles yet. I like this pairing, which I occasionally use in stories I never upload because they're not decent enough. Maybe someday I'll write an AerithCissneiElenaTifa story and actually upload it, but we'll see...

Anyway! Today there are only four, because I have to go to work. So! Favorite today: Mambo Number Five, because even though I didn't stick strictly to the song (I don't always stick to songs anyway), I liked it the most out of the four. I couldn't really think of anything for most of these. Grave shift hours are not conducive to logical or all there writing. Repeats? Our house which I decided to write as a sort of extension of the same song in 2011 and I Ran which I think I completely changed from previous years except of course for the theme of running.

Now! As always an incredible Thank You to **DarkHikariTwilight**! Everyone go on and have an amazing eighth day of December. I hope you all liked and keep reading! Please Review, PM, Alert and Favorite! 17 days until Christmas and I still haven't gone shopping.


	9. Rated M means nothing on Fanfiction

**AN: **Late again today, but where I am it's only 1pm. So everyone in the time-zones a few hours ahead and behind are still living day nine. As such, I apologize to everyone who lives in a place where it's already the tenth, but I'm uploading day nine. Ok? Gomen.

As always! THANK YOU to **DarkHikariTwilight**! I will make sure to write something amazing for you when all of this is over as a thank you~!

And now, Day nine.

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 9, 2013**

**Young – Hollywood Undead – 3:16**

Some days Tseng forgot. Most days, like now, as he looked around at the determined faces of the assembled, it saddened him. They were all so young, the oldest of them only twenty-seven, yet here they were about to face an entire army – an army they'd spend the majority of their lives serving - for the right to be truly free. Tseng had to chuckle to himself as he realized even further. It wasn't only these five SOLDIERs and those who followed them. His men, his Turks, too. Even he, himself.

The sudden sound of copter blades and mechanized footsteps interrupted his musings. It was now or never, Tseng had chosen to follow these men away from ShinRa, as well. As he watched the ShinRa forces advance, he had no regrets. From the smirks and nods his subordinates sent him, Tseng knew the rest of his Turks felt the same. With a silent signal, all the suits headed to the helicopters stolen from the very company they'd once been loyal to, and moments later were in the air, prepared and waiting.

Perhaps it was because they were all so young that they hadn't lost the will to fight for themselves, and maybe, it had taken the youngest of them all to set this in motion. Tseng smiled as the spiky-haired blond at the front of the battle lines gave one final cry and ordered the advance. This was only the first major battle, but the Wutaian commander trusted that they would not fail.

**Smack That – Akon ft. Eminem – 3:32 (RufusxReno)**

Rufus hadn't been at the club recently, having had something urgent to resolve. It had been a month already and it had surprised him when as he'd entered, incognito from the main entrance, an unfamiliar head of striking red hair had unwittingly caught his attention. The man had been sitting at the bar simultaneously drinking and talking with the bartender, Rude.

Rufus didn't know what had come over him but a sudden wave of timidity had reared its head and he had quickly made his way backstage and to his changing room. Now, here he stood waiting for the announcer to introduce him by stage name and play the music he'd be dancing to tonight. Music played and in the back of his mind he thanked Gaia that he hadn't lost his touch as he strut across the stage to the pole in the center with a teasing smirk on perfect pink lips. Somehow, he was doing this even with the butterflies that increased when ice blue eyes met a pair of ocean blue-green.

The redhead who had been at the bar was now wandering over, and Rufus almost faltered in a spin when the man sat in the blonde's designated seat of the day. Mentally calming himself, Rufus lowered himself and sensually climbed back up the pole. He could do this, he wanted it. Setting his eyes solely on that sexy scarlet-haired god, Rufus began to strip. With any luck, he could get the man in a back room, or better yet in his bed back home.

**Rockstar – Nickelback – 4:15**

Genesis Rhapsodos scoffed at the woman across from him and deliberately flipped his hair while looking away from the camera to this far right. Beside him, Angeal held in a chuckle while across from him Zack snickered and Cloud flashed a brief grin. Sephiroth, on Angeal's right, smirked and shook his head at the redhead's fake attitude. It was all for the camera and the fans, and it never failed to amuse the rest of them.

"We're a band who plays anything and everything under the sun whenever it strikes our fancy to do so whether you or anyone else likes it or not," the auburn-haired keyboard and backup vocalist for SOLDIER First Class stated in answer to the hostess' earlier inquiry. They were a relatively new band, formed completely on a whim of their second-youngest member's one night as they'd all been enjoying a relaxing movie night in Angeal's living room.

"Yes, so we've all heard," the woman doing the interview schooled her expression and smiled as she responded to Genesis' devil may care attitude. "Another question," the lady turned to face the younger members of SOLDIER First. "There is currently a worldwide debate going on in regards to all of your names. People are curious, are these your real names or simply stage names?" Sephiroth cleared his throat, deciding to answer this turn seeing as the rest of them had each answered one question so far.

"Our names are those which we felt were familiar and best for the public to know us as," he intoned, giving a diplomatic answer and saying nothing more. Genesis, Angeal, Sephiroth, Fair, and Strife (as they were known) were their real names, of course, but it was in the interest of their own amusement to keep the fans guessing. That worldwide internet debate could entertain them to no end on boring days.

**Maps – The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – 3:39 (SephirothxCloud)**

Once callused fingertips traced the letters on the makeshift headstones that marked everyone's graves. Tifa, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, Reeve; Cloud had brushed his hands over the tops of their grave markers as he'd passed. Nanaki, Vincent; the long while of thinking before these two had calmed his soul somewhat. Zack, Aerith; a smile and a silent prayer sent thank them for everything. Angeal, Genesis; even those he hadn't known at all in life had places in this makeshift graveyard.

But it was this one. This grave, that he lingered at, repeatedly etching the name he'd painstakingly carved into the memory of his fingertips.

"Cloud…"

The blonde's head whipped upward at the achingly familiar voice. He hadn't heard it in millennia.

"Just Go."

He had no idea what that meant but his legs obeyed, jumping on the Fenrir mk.12 and flooring it. A nothingness stretched suddenly before him and as he rode directly into the center of it, that voice echoed with finality in the back of his mind. "This is your one and only chance."

Brilliant blue eyes opened to the view of a nine year-old's unfamiliar yet nostalgic bedroom.

**You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dope (cover) – 2:43**

Zack bounced down the hall and into the kitchen where he'd set up various ingredients for his famous Gongagan smoothies. He dug around in the cupboards for a bowl and the cutting board and grabbed a knife from the wooden stand on the counter. After gathering all the fruit he would need as well as a few extra things, the puppy sat and began to cut the fruits into smaller pieces.

Apples. Bananas. Cherries. Grapes. Peaches. Pineapple. Pears. He threw it all into the bowl and added coconut flakes and pecans. Pouring the mixed fruit into the blender, he added ice and milk then switched the machine on and grinned, humming to himself. The humming led to dancing and the dancing to singing as he waited for the drink to make itself.

"~You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record, baby, right round round round!~"

In the doorway, Sephiroth silently stepped back, finding it in his best interest to remove himself for the time being from the influence of a man who sang to his blender.

**Say When – The Fray – 5:04 (SephirothxVincentxCloud)**

Crimson eyes stared, watching as the events that had occurred the night before finally seemed to be sinking into the blonde's abused psyche. Immediately, he was there, catching the younger man in his arms as his legs failed to keep him upright any longer. Vincent sank to the ground, Cloud held in his strong arms, and simply stayed there. No tears left the blonde's blank azure orbs, but every once in a while his chest would jump in something that Vincent had come to liken to a sob. For a very long time, neither one moved each lost in his own thoughts while also giving and receiving comfort from the other.

"He's gone," Cloud's voice was hardly an audible sound as it escaped his barely parted lips. Vincent gave the quickest of nods, not releasing the blonde in his arms as he continued to come to grips with what had happened. "Do you think he might return again?" The savior of the world sounded almost like a lost child past the emotionless tone of his voice. Anyone who wasn't Vincent might not have heard it, but he did. The ex-Turk shook his head.

"I believe this was the final time. He is gone for good."

Sephiroth had returned suddenly. Everyone else had already passed centuries ago, leaving only himself and Cloud. This time the Silver Demon had been anything but insane. It had taken them by complete surprise when years had passed and one night Sephiroth had apologized. Just like that, in plain earnest. Both of them had accepted the apology and forgiven him, having grown to believe in him over the years they had spent together as the last three individuals on a dying planet. As friends and later something more.

High on the tallest point of the Nibel Mountains, two wolves mourned the loss of their own.

**Untouched – The Veronicas – 4:14 (ShelkexYuffie)**

Yuffie hit the bed with a soft thud and a soft dusting of pink covered her cheeks as she looked above her and met the blank eyes of her lover. She had the urge to hide her face but it was quickly shot down as two slender hands pinned her wrists on either side of her face to the mattress. Yuffie let out a breath and blushed further. Above her, Shelke's lips tilted in a miniscule smile.

A pair of lips on the junction of neck and jaw caused her to let out a quick gasp at the sensation. That had never been done to her before and she was surprised at how strongly she'd felt it. Her eyes had closed and she opened them again when those lips left her skin completely. She gave the brunette a questioning look and Shelke shifted so that her face was right above the raven-haired ninja's.

"Are you sure?" The monotone question caught her off guard, but she managed to think quickly and answer honestly. Yuffie beamed up at her girlfriend.

"One thousand percent."

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **That last song could've gone better… But hey, seven songs today! Not too bad for being late. Anyway, from the top…

Young, while I was writing it, went in a skewed direction than what I'd wanted but the bottom line is the same. The universe this is written is, as I call it, the Frontline universe (the story 'verse that all began with the song Frontline in the 2011 shuffle). Usually, it's ASGZC, but since it was written in Tseng's POV it didn't come out that way and so I left it blank in the pairing section. On a semi-related note, Hollywood Undead are amazing and I love their music!

Smack that could've been written better but I liked it, at least. If a song pops up later that works for it, I might write the Reno side of it, similar to how I wrote Take It Off/Porn Star Dancing last year. Rockstar also could've been better but blah. And like I said earlier, Untouched could've been way better, too.

Maps. I had a goal in mind when writing this drabble, but the song ended and I didn't get to it. This may or may not matter to all of you, but I might turn the concept behind this song drabble into a story later on. We'll see. Same goes for Say When. I managed to get the point across, mostly, for that one. But I had so much more I could've added, and so as with Maps, I'll probably also write a story for Say When. Most likely.

You Spin Me Right Round was just to throw in something stupid and funny. Hope you all at least liked it.

Thanks to everyone who reads! Hooray for the larger range of pairings and more drabbles today. Please review! Favorite, Alert, and PM me your thoughts~! 16 days until Christmas!


	10. Work Kills!

**AN: **This is my explanation!

Since Day Nine my days have been like this: Sleep, wake up at one AM, go to work at two AM, get off work, go home, sleep. Wake up, eat dinner, go back to sleep for a couple hours. Rinse. Repeat. EVERY DAY!

So I worked this morning and since I don't work tomorrow (for once, thank the Goddess!) I'm skipping the final sleep in the aforementioned cycle and using that time for writing this out to post! Yay!

Anyway, during the 'eat dinner' part of all that I managed to write some. On paper, with a pencil. So I'm typing those up, but because they were hand written, not typed, while listening to the songs – they are, of course, shorter than usual. Sorry.

So starting from Day 10~ get ready for a slew of updates in one go! Here you are…

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 10, 2013**

**Frontline – Pillar – 3:10**

When Cloud had first brought the idea up, it had seemed like a wish; something that would be wonderful if only it were attainable. They had wistfully agreed that it was the best course of action, but mentally they held back even the urge to attempt it.

Deserting?

Sure it sounded nice but logically there was no possible way they could pull it off. So they had dropped it. Cloud had sighed but hadn't brought it up again.

Until that day…

Now here they stood, with a surprising amount of support (both friends and former enemies standing behind them) awaiting the remnants of ShinRa's army. Though the odds were against them, they were ready.

They would fight.

**You're Still the One – Shania Twain – 3:34 – ASGZC**

There were ups and downs to living for centuries. The vast amounts of mako that had been pumped into them once upon a time had made it so that even after all these years Cloud still looked roughly twenty. The rest of them also looked no older than their mid-twenties. In all honesty, they were grateful for that if for nothing else. Mostly, they were just glad that they were all still together.

Cloud smiled at the view outside their bedroom window.

"Genesis!" Zack's whine echoed in the otherwise peaceful valley. The redhead's taunting laughter following. Zack Fair stood dripping lake water, shaking it from spiky black locks. Cloud laughed, seeing the events to come just as they happened. A wide grin spread on Zack's face and the overgrown mutt raced at Gen who promptly turned and ran to avoid being glomped by a soaking wet puppy.

A low chuckle from behind caused Cloud to turn. Angeal and Sephiroth stood also watching the scene outside. The blonde smiled again. After all this countless time that had passed, he still loved these four men with all his soul.

**What Hurts the Most – Rascal Flatts – 3:34 (SephirothxCloud)**

A flash of yellow crossed the corner of his vision and Sephiroth found himself turning to follow with his eyes without any conscious thought to do so. Spiky blonde hair bounced lightly as the young man walked further down the sidewalk and out of view entirely. Cat slit green eyes watched for a second more before turning back on their original path opposite the blonde.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and shook his head in attempt to clear his suddenly clouded thoughts. That chance had passed, was gone forever, and there would not ever be another. Just the memory of what had transpired that day…

He had never wished for anything more than he wished he could simply do it all over again.

Impossible.

But he wished it nonetheless.

What he wanted more than anything, he would never have, no matter how much he loved.

Cloud Strife…

Would never be his.

**My Band – D12 – 4:58**

"~These chicks don't even know the name of my band~"

Cloud rolled his eyes as Zack sang to himself at the wheel of the bus. The music blasting from the speakers where the mp3 player sat playing. The blonde scoffed. That was a Turks song.

"~But they're all on me like they wanna hold hands~"

Speaking of Turks…

Reno grinned as he continued the song. His song, to be exact. He was, after all, the lead singer of The Turks. The redhead sauntered forward to the beat to join Zack at the front of the tour bus, a cocky grin on his face as he sang.

"~All because I'm the lead singer of my band~!"

At the last word, Reno flicked the back of Zack's head, causing the younger man to flinch and pout with a whine of the redhead's name.

"What was that for?" Zack looked accusingly at Reno who was snickering. Reno smirked.

"What you doin' singin' my song, yo?" Zack rolled his eyes as an answer. "You SOLDIER boys can't sing like me, yo! 'specially not the drummer."

"Hey, I sing!" Said drummer protested with a glare at the redhead.

"Keep your eyes on the road, Pup," Angeal calmly warned.

"Yes," the raven-haired drummer sulked with a muttered, 'I do sing…'.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Uh, well, Favorite was probably What Hurts, cause of the concept. Repeats? Frontline and You're Still the One, I think. Frontline is from the same 'verse as the original in 2011. So there you go! Only Four that day. Stay tuned while I type up what I had written for Day Eleven! Ja!


	11. Getting it done!

**AN: **Next Chapter! Typed after being hand-written. Day Eleven~!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 11, 2013**

**Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi – 5:10**

"Is there any particular reason it has to be this particular object?" Genesis drawled with only minor curiosity from where he lazily reclined on the plush cream sofa in the center of the large warehouse-like room. Off in a further right kitty-corner part of the room, the clicking of keys on the keyboard paused for the minutest of moments before picking up again.

"Not particularly," came the monotone reply. Genesis rolled his eyes and scoffed, flipping a page of Loveless. From her position at her computer cave, Shelke ignored him, preferring to continue in her usual manner.

"Alright!" another voice suddenly bounced off the walls in the vast concrete room. Genesis sat up and glared in annoyance at the ninja who had just bounded in waving a small stack of papers. The others soon followed her into the room.

"Alright what?" Zack was the first to ask as everyone gathered around Gen's sofa. Yuffie grinned and waved the papers about as if fanning herself.

"I am amazing!" She announced, ignoring Genesis' snort of disbelief. "I have finished breaking down the stats for the most recent catch! Which means~"

"It's payday!" Zack whooped.

"Exactly!"

"But!" Tifa's voice caused most of them to flinch. "None of you will receive even one measly gil until you accomplish this next objective."

None of them allowed themselves the groan they wished to let out, but in their heads they bemoaned their lot. As one, the members of SOLDIER filed off to Angeal's truck, Aerith's 'good luck!' following them out.

**Scotty Doesn't Know – Lustra – 2:56 (RenoxCloud; ZackxCloud)**

"Babe, your phone is ringin', yo," Reno whispered into the blonde's ear as he gave a few slow, shallow thrusts. Beneath him, Cloud moaned and absently felt around on the bed for the trilling device. With distracted motions, the blonde flipped open the PHS and brought it to his ear.

"Hiya, Cloudy!" Zack's voice answered, sounding loving and eager on the other end. Cloud managed to keep his voice even as he answered back, even while Reno's devilishly talented hands teased with feather light touched on his inner thighs. Conversation followed for another minute before the redhead decided he'd rather not be patient. Reno bit hard on the junction of Cloud's neck and shoulder and the blond let out a harsh breath.

"Uh, Z-zack," Cloud winced at the stutter, interruption Zack's speech as Reno's attentions grew in intent. "Now's not really the best t-time."

"Oh," Zack sounded upset, but Cloud could barely care at that point. "I'll call later, then, I guess."

"Y-yeah. Bye, Zack," A loud moan followed Zack's name and Cloud could only be thankful that the raven-haired man had already hung up at the word 'Bye'.

**Wherever I May Roam – Metallica – 6:45**

Sunlight dripped down from the opening in the ceiling, bathing a veritable field of white and yellow flowers among the scattered pews of the church-like building.

Cloud looked around at the place he suddenly found himself, not surprised at the change of surroundings so much as at the fact that his magic had managed to get him here. He hadn't had too much faith in it, in all honesty, but it seemed he'd proven to himself that he was at least more capable than he was wont to believe.

Suddenly there was a shift in the air pressure and moments later another man stood where there had previously been no one. His mouth hung open as if he'd been about to protest something, or maybe whine about it, but he quickly froze as violet eyes took in their new location. Cloud could pinpoint the moment the other man realized what had happened by the widening of those eyes and the slacking of his jaw. Then, surprisingly, the man frowned, furrowing his brows in a none too pleased manner. For some reason, Cloud thought the expression was slightly wrong on that face.

"Welcome," an airy voice interrupted his thoughts. Turning, he was met with the visage of an angel, and he blinked for a second to assure himself it wasn't an illusion. The woman, all wavy light brown hair and glowing green eyes, didn't disappear and Cloud took it that she was the woman he'd been seeking in the first place. Before he could speak, another voice broke the calm silence of the church.

"Aren't you the time witch?" The raven-haired man who had yet to introduce himself addressed the young woman who was bent in a patch of lilies in the center of the crumbling church, tending to them. The woman stood and patted the dust from her skirt before turning to fully face them. She giggled, a beautiful smile gracing her lips.

"Among other things~"

"Oh yeah?" the other grinned. "What other things?" The woman giggled again.

"You may call me Aerith," She told them both. Her smile was soothing to Cloud, but he stubbornly kept his hard gaze.

"Aerith," the blonde addressed, looking into her deep green orbs. "I need your help."

"Oh! What a coincidence," the second spiky-haired traveler chimed. "I kinda need some help from you, too, Aerith."

Aerith smiled, "I know."

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **I only wrote three that day. If you can tell me where the concept for drabble number three came from I'll give you a cyber-cookie! It shouldn't be too hard. Wherever I May Roam was my favorite for this day. Repeats were Wanted Dead or Alive – a peek at the universe of my now in-progress story From SOLDIER with Love. Go check it out, if you'd like, you might understand this drabble better if you do. But you don't have to.

Now I'm off to type up the next day! See you soon! I'm trying to work as fast as I can.


	12. Blah Blah Blah!

**AN: **Day Twelve!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 12, 2013**

**Best Friend – Toy Box – 3:31 (AngealxGenesis)**

Angeal Hewley looked great in a yukata, Genesis couldn't help but noticed. He gave an exaggerated sigh as he watched his best friend walking ahead of him with two starry eyed girls on either side of him. Genesis made no secret of his disapproval as he followed behind them, glaring daggers into the two girls' backs. Angeal was his! Did they not realize that?

"Angeal, will you walk around with us?" Genesis mocked in a whiny high-pitched voice. He couldn't understand why his slightly younger best friend couldn't just say, 'No'. Genesis was this close to casting Fire at the lot of them. He would've, too, if he wasn't positive his honor bound friend would lecture him for it. The girl on Angeal's right placed her hand none too subtly on the burly young boy's arm and giggled.

Giggled.

The audacity of it had him rethinking his earlier point. One well-placed Fire spell would do the trick… Just as he was finalizing his plan to rid Angeal of the repulsive leeches, slate grey eyes met his own over a broad shoulder and Genesis found himself suddenly stopping at the fond smile sent his way. Gen felt his cheeks go red and quickly ducked his head to hide it. A second later, he was staring down at two sandaled feet and Angeal was gently lifting his face up with one finger.

"Gen? You okay?" Genesis could only nod, all previous ire fleeing from him in that moment.

"Fine," he managed. Angeal looked worried but smiled and nodded, not hesitating to take his friend's hand and begin walking again. It took Genesis a minute to notice the absence of the girls, but he didn't ask. Whatever happened with them was no concern of his so long as they were no longer hanging off of His Angeal.

**Right Round – Flo Rida – 3:25 (RenoxRufus)**

Reno sauntered into the club like he owned the place, a cocky grin on his lips.

"Rude," he greeting his long-time friend with a smirk. The bartender only nodded in return and automatically began to prepare his red-haired friend his usual drink. Reno chatted with the man, consuming one drink after another, until music began to play and a name was announced. He turned to the stage and was blown away when a familiar blonde strut across the stage and to the pole that stood in the center of it.

He had seen that face earlier, only minutes after first walking in. Brilliant semi-long platinum blonde hair that hung in steely blue eyes. Reno nearly lost it right there as the man began to dance on the pole. He licked bow shaped lips, eyes never leaving that flexible body. On occasion his eyes met the stripper's. Without much thought, Reno found himself gravitating forward to the stage and sitting in the first available seat he could find that was closest to the stage.

A smirk spread across his lips as eyes met again. With any amount of luck, he could get this man into a bed by the end of the night. Gaia, he hoped so.

**City – Hollywood Undead – 3:35**

Genesis grinned as he looked down on the city from his place on the Loveless billboard. He'd always wanted to stand up there and look down on the place where so much of his life had felt like being caged in a routine he had never enjoyed. Flames licked at the various buildings all across the plate, debri falling every which way. The sky rained ashes, a touch of beauty in the chaos around him.

"ShinRa is in a panic," a pleased voice came from beside him and he turned his head to meet brilliant blue orbs. Cloud had a smirk on pretty bow lips. Genesis scoffed. Of course they were. All of Midgar was burning around them. The auburn-haired ex-commander had thought it a nice touch that they hadn't set fire to any part of the ShinRa complex itself. Instead allowing the flames from adjacent buildings to rapidly creep towards it. The redhead would have to thank Sephiroth for that sadistic little idea later.

"Remind me to thank Seph later for the idea," Genesis repeated his thoughts to Cloud as a request. He didn't think he would forget, but just in case. Beside him, Cloud chuckled and nodded.

"Ange and Zack have managed to evacuate the idiot bystanders who didn't heed out earlier warnings," the blonde reported not entirely caring, as he was sure Genesis didn't either, but figuring that he should at least mention it. They had warned everyone, even ShinRa, of their plans to cleanse the city by fire. Some had chosen to stay, however, and while that was alright as far as ShinRa was concerned, Zack and Angeal had disagreed with the notion that anyone who was stupid enough to stay in the city or the slums after several warnings could simply burn along with it.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Ugh, still some days to go… Three that day, too. Favorite: Best Friend. Loved it, was cute! Woot for AngxGen. I love it. Repeats… maybe, Right Round. This is the song that ended up becoming the reverse side of Smack That from an earlier day this month. Reno's POV flip of Rufus' POV. City is also a repeat, something like an alternate but same concept as the same song on a previous year. May or may not be set in my developing Frontline universe.

So yeah, anyway, I'm steadily catching up, so I'll be going to the next day now! Ja!


	13. Ifrit's balls! I'm tired

**AN: **Day Thirteen! Half done now…

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 13, 2013**

**Lips of an Angel – Hinder – 4:21 (RenoxCloud)**

Reno slipped into the rather busy restaurant bar that they had agreed to meet at and scanned the area for that messy head of blonde spikes. Almost immediately, he spotted them nearly shrouded in the shadows in one corner in the restaurant section of the bar. The redhead wasted no time going over, flagging a waitress over as he walked by and asking for two sodas. He was not about to let himself or the blonde get plastered. It could start a whole lot of shit if either of them went home smelling like alcohol. As it was, shit could still hit the fan seeing as it was nearly two in the morning and neither of them was where they were supposed to be at the moment. Namely, at their homes in their respective beds.

Reno slid into the booth opposite the blonde without ceremony and sat silently as he waited for the other man to acknowledge his presence. He didn't have to wait too long before usually brilliant blue eyes came up to meet his own more icy ones. Immediately, he noticed the tear stains on pale pink cheeks. He had to check himself before he could reach over the table to wipe away lingering tears. A small almost forced smile lifted one corner of pretty bow lips and Reno blew reservation out the window, following up on his previous urge and swiping at tear-streaked cheeks with both thumbs.

"I'm sorry," Cloud whispered, and Reno almost crumbled at how pathetic he sounded. Why had he ever left this man? Reno wondered. How had he even managed to?

"Don't be," he whispered back, leaning forward to plant a peck on those angel lips without any conscious thought. "I should be the one to apologize. I'm sorry, babe."

**Sweet Child O' Mine – Guns 'N' Roses – 5:58 – ASGZC (mainly GenxCloud; Mpreg)**

Genesis watched through the thick plastic of the respirator as his own tiny miracle struggled to take a breath on her own. He hadn't taken it entirely well when he had been informed by a sympathetic Angeal of his only biological daughter's status directly after birth. It hadn't helped at all that he had been sitting in a meeting with the board at the time. He still hadn't gotten the details on everything that had happened to lead up to this point and these outcomes, but as soon as he could tear himself away from this window he was going to get some answers.

Still…

A smile graced his lips as he took in the details of his baby girl. His little red. Akane Rhapsodos. He could see the light dusting of auburn whisps on his baby's tiny head and he just knew that if her eyes would ever open, they'd be a beautiful blue. And she was his. His.

For the longest time he had anticipated her. Even before she'd ever been conceived he'd wanted her. Impatient as one by one the others had received their own little bundles of joy. And while he had always been happy (well, almost always) to enjoy the ups and downs of raising his other four non-biological children, he knew that there would be nothing like raising her.

Pressing a hand to the glass he gazed through, Genesis uttered a silent prayer to the Goddess. She was a strong child, he knew. With a push from the Goddess, Akane would make it. There could be no doubt. She was his child after all. A Rhapsodos. She would be strong.

**When We Stand Together – Nickelback – 3:10**

"Are you sure," Angeal asked, not wanting to drag others into their problems, especially when the outcome of their current actions was entirely up for grabs and not at all positive. Black eyes met grey and the other nodded once, firm in his decision now that it had been made after much deliberation. Tseng gave the SOLDIER a small smile.

"I assure you, Commander," the head of the Turks replied. "We have taken into account every possible outcome and know, perhaps even more than you do, what we are getting ourselves into. We will support you. Do not worry about us, only yourselves."

Angeal did not feel too sure about it, but seeing the resolve of the Turk commander all he could do was nod and pray that if anything happened to he and his own, the Turks would not be dragged down with them, Of course, as Genesis had earlier assured him rather flippantly. The Turks were worse than cockroaches. They could survive anything.

Angeal only hoped so.

"Now go, Commander Hewley, or you will draw unwanted you are all going to pull this off, now is the time. You cannot be dilly-dallying."

A chuckle escaped the as of now ex-commander and he sent the Turk a smile before sticking out his hand for one final handshake. Tseng took it, shaking once, and sent the man off. It was only the beginning and they had a long way to go, but with any amount of luck and the Gift of the Goddess (Tseng rolled his eyes at that thought) those five would manage.

Leviathan help them, he hoped so.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Insufficient time to write something that actually led somewhere for that first story. I think that, with this year's and last year's (and maybe the previous year's if I revise it) Lips of an Angel, I might manage to write a decent story. Maybe. And hey! Did I mention there would be MPreg, cause I probably should've for those of you who haven't read the previous years. But there you go, now you know. All children are belong to me as far as any Mpreg I write goes. If you all liked it, go check out my Strife Family Portrait story (currently on a slight hiatus as all my stories except this one are). And another story for the Frontline 'verse. When We Stand Together is one of my favorite Nickelback songs. Gods but I just love Chad Kroeger and his voice!

So three again as the rest of the days are (though I think day 16 will be five… maybe) since I wrote these on paper I decided to stick to what fit on the front and back of one page. As such, three stories is the norm for the days I have skipped and am now catching up on. Favorite this day was… you know what, I liked them all. Repeats were Sweet Child and Lips of an Angel. Now, off to do the next day. Almost caught up! Be right back!


	14. Almost There!

**AN: **Day Fourteen!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 14, 2013**

**Somebody's Watching Me – Rockwell ft. Michael Jackson – 3:58 (TsengxRenoxCloud)**

Cloud shivered as once again he could feel eyes on him. There could no longer be any doubt about it. Someone was watching him. Had been watching him since almost two weeks ago. For the longest time he hadn't wanted to tell anybody, but a couple days ago he had caved and confessed everything to Tseng and Reno. So far, both of them hadn't found anything, or so they told him, but he highly doubted it. There was simply no way that the Turks wouldn't be able to figure out who was watching him. Finally, he had had enough, setting out to find those two and drill them for information.

It wasn't usually possible to pry information out of two honed Turks, but Cloud had his ways. Slamming the door to their apartment open, the blonde stormed in and slammed it quickly shut. He nearly laughed when Reno fell form the couch where he'd been half-straddling a relaxed Commander of the Turks. Lazily, two black orbs rolled to meet Cloud's, a smirk on the Wutaian Turk's lips at Reno's fall.

"Cloud," the head of the Turks nodded to his youngest lover. Cloud walked over and draped across the man's lap without ceremony, sticking a tongue out at the redhead who protested but refused to move from his new spot on the floor. A not-so-quick kiss later, Cloud was asking the simple question. Had they found anything?

Tseng nodded but did not answer, preferring to maneuver the young blonde into a more advantageous position. Cloud promptly forgot his objective as Reno joined in. Later, he would remember and surely follow up on his original plans of interrogation, but for now…

**She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5 – 4:17 (ZackxCloud)**

Zack didn't mind. Not really. After all, he loved this man with all his heard, mind, and soul. He would always be there for him. What he did mind, was the blonde's horrid losing streak in this matter. Zack walked into his living room with a tray balanced on one hand, a plate of cookies and two mugs of hot chocolate sitting precariously on top. Maneuvering around the coffee table, he managed to place the tray down without dropping anything. On the couch, Cloud smiled the slightest bit at Zack's antics.

"Thanks," the blonde muttered, reaching out to take a cup and a cookie. He hadn't wanted to come here, again, but somehow this was the one place he felt relief after every incident. He knew that eventually they would have the usual discussion turned argument that always led to Cloud trudging back to his apartment, but for now he felt comfortable in the familiar warmth of Zack's home and care.

"No problem, Cloud," Zack replied with a light smile, sitting himself beside the blonde and pulling him into strong arms to cuddle into a comfortable chest. "You know you're always welcome here."

It went without saying that he didn't just mean the house.

**Somebody Told Me – The Killers – 3:17**

Upon further inspection, Cloud blinked. Had it been just his imagination, or maybe he had superimposed his own familiar image on the two standing before him. He blinked again and took a moment to gaze around the church and clear his thoughts before moving his eyes back to the unfamiliar visage of his friends.

Their images were flickering before him now and he had to shake his head to try and clear it again. Crossing his arms under his breasts, he took a deep breath and looked up once more. Their images stayed still and he sighed in relief. Until he took them in fully and his jaw dropped.

Zack was a chick. A rather hot one and he could feel the blush crawling across his cheeks. There could be no doubt now, he was most definitely bi, now. Beside him, stood Aerith. A male Aerith. She (He?) looked extremely androgynous, so much that even now, taller and more fleshed out, he still looked like the Aerith he remembered. Sans boobs and the dress, of course. Her (his) hair was shorter, too, but still fell into her face to frame those same knowing green eyes. Cloud shook his head to bring himself back to his purpose and he narrowed his gaze at the two smiling figures.

"Alright. I think you both know why I'm here and what I want to know. I've endured this bizarre world for long enough (fourteen years to be entirely correct) and while it is definitely interesting, I would like an explanation. Now spill."

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **A direct continuation of last year's story for the same song, Somebody Told Me. I could think of nothing! for She Will Be Loved. So blah. And somehow that first one dwindled from something with a point into something that almost became smut. I think yesterday was an odd day. But yay, I'm almost caught up. Just Day Fifteen and then I can write (type) Day Sixteen and be completely caught up.

And so! Favorite was story number three. Repeats were Loved and Somebody Told Me. See you again! Ja!


	15. YES!

**AN: **Day Fifteen (has just finished for me, but I suppose this could still count for those who are some time zones behind me)! Either way, 10 days til Christmas from this day… On with the show… uh, story!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 15, 2013**

**Bumblebee Tuna – Mephiskapheles – 5:29**

"GenGen! Hungwy!" Cloud tugged on Genesis famous red coat with the hand he wasn't using to hug his favorite stuffed dragon. Genesis turned from where he'd been hand-washing the few dishes he'd used for his own lunch just a while ago and gazed down to where he felt the pull on his duster.

"Hungwy!" Cloud repeated, looking up at the redhead with wide, innocent, and pleading blue eyes. Genesis was seconds from scooping the adorable child up and squeezing him tightly in a hug. Three year old Cloud was entirely too adorable for his own safety. As it was, Genesis couldn't stop himself from picking the too cute toddler up and resting him on his hip.

"What is it you want to eat, Cloud?" the auburn-haired SOLDIER asked, but the baby blonde had no chance to answer as in came two more children. One redhead and one messy black-spiked child marched into the kitchen together chanting a single word over and over in an obnoxious way.

"Tuna! Tuna! Tuna! Tuna!"

Genesis opened his mouth to chastise the both of them, when Cloud giggled in his arms. The sound was enough to calm the irritated adult and Genesis decided to simply answer to the children's whims. Mentally, he wished that Reno and Zack had had the good sense to think before using materia to play baseball.

"Tuna, GenGen?" The blonde babe in his arms tilted his head cutely in question and Genesis' inner cute-meter skyrocketed. He nodded at the mini-fied Cloud (and wasn't it just lucky that the blonde had gotten caught in the resulting explosion of a mini material?).

"You want Tuna for lunch, Cloud?" he asked the boy and was rewarded with an enthusiastic nod that swayed wild blonde spikes and the largest beaming smile he had ever seen on the young man's face. "Tuna it is then." He set to work.

**The Look – Roxette – 3:54**

Zack had to appreciate what Gaia had unwittingly done this go around. He had to admit, he liked the way it had worked out. Though he still couldn't quite get used to the way it felt to walk around in a woman-shaped body. But damn, he looked good if he did say so himself. That being said, he hadn't expected it when he'd turned four and all of his memories had come back to him one by one over the course of a year. It was entirely too confusing at that age to suddenly realize that your gender was wrong. While he had gotten used to that gradual return of remembered events over the course of their multiple time-travelling journeys, that had been a new one. Somehow, he hadn't minded it too much, after the initial shock of meeting Kunsel again (female Kunsel who always seemed to sport a conductor's cap pulled far over honey brown bangs that covered her eyes).

Meeting Angeal had been, odd. Seeing as the man was still, well, a man. When he'd gotten around to meeting Aerith again, he had asked her why that was and she'd smiled and answered that it simply was. After a while, Zack had figured it out for himself that Angeal had retained his male-ness by asking for it from the start. And wasn't that confusing. Zack was still trying to wrap his head around that. Sephiroth and Genesis, Reno, Tseng… It had all been something he easily accepted after those first surprises.

Now, though, he was staring at a fourteen year old Female Cloud Strife and the shock returned.

**Peacock – Katy Perry – 3:51 (AngealxGenesis)**

Genesis had had about enough. He could stand it no longer. Angeal had been neglecting him, too preoccupied with missions and his new puppy, and Genesis had had it. Enough was enough. He knew for a fact that Angeal had a day off tomorrow and the puppy would be off with his chocobo cadet friend so there would be no excuses tonight! Genesis was going to get what he wanted when he wanted it.

Pulling the food from the oven, Genesis plated some and placed it on the table. He'd made sure to use various foods that could be used as natural aphrodisiacs, not about to let anything stop him from getting to Angeal tonight. He had the entire night planned out. A surefire no holds barred guaranteed to get in his pants plan that would have them in bed the entire night and all of the next day.

Just as Genesis was putting the final touches on his plans, the door to their shared apartment opened and in walked the man he hadn't seen more than a glimpse of in nearly a week. A pleased grin spread on his lips and Genesis stood from where he'd sat on the couch to wait those few minutes for Angeal. He prowled over to the man and greeted him, an innocent seeming kiss to his lips and a welcome home.

"I made dinner," Genesis informed. Angeal's brows rose but he smiled and walked over to the kitchen.

"Smells delicious, Gen."

"Oh, it's much more than simply delicious," Genesis purred.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **That last one was kinda blah. I wrote these also on paper, last night while I was waiting around for two o'clock to come around so I could go to work. Repeats were just The Look. A Zack's perspective of the Somebody Told Me 'verse I had going. Favorite was Tuna! Because I thought it was adorable and I really wanted to write something for this universe. I have a story in the works that I want to finish before posting, and this is from that universe. So there you go~

Now I'm basically caught up, so I'll go and actually properly do day sixteen and then I'll be officially caught up, again! See you all soon! Review!


	16. Revived!

**AN: **While it has barely just become the sixteenth here where I am. I know that in the majority of the world it is already the sixteenth and well into the morning, afternoon, or evening. So, whatever! Here we have the appropriately typed not at all hand-written drabbles for today (though there's only so much time so I might only do five).

Day Sixteen!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 16, 2013**

**Next Contestant – Nickelback – 3:34 (AerithxTifa)**

Tifa watched as yet another set of eyes leered at her girlfriend as she served patrons around the bar. It didn't help that the uniform in this establishment was so skimpy it left almost nothing to the imagination. If it wasn't for the fact that both of them were slums poor and needed this job, Tifa would never allow her to work there with her. As it was, Tifa had managed to land a job as a bartender while Aerith had had to settle for being a waitress. It would've been fine, waitressing was a good job, after all; It was just that in this particular bar (one of the more seedy bars in these parts) everyone was depraved and itching to touch, not caring one bit who saw.

Well, Tifa cared. She cared a damn lot.

From her spot at the bar, Tifa pinpointed that hand just as it reached out heading for Aerith's ass with obvious intent. She saw Aerith jump and glare at the customer and silently the bartender dared the man to do it again. Just watch what she did to him if he did. One touch seemed to be enough, for now, however, and Aerith quickly moved to the next table.

"That's choice, there, that one," Tifa heard a fat tub of lard just a few stools away from her at the bar and she turned to look at him in disgust. He didn't seem to care, turning to her and looking her up and down with a leer worse than the one he'd sent Aerith. "I've got an idea," he grinned at her, absolute revulsion swirled in Tifa's wine-colored eyes. "Why not you and her together. I'll take her right there and you can watch as I-"

He never finished as a force so strong it knocked him from his seat to skid a few feet across the floor hit him square in the jaw. Tifa's eyes burned with rage where she stood on top of the bar counter after kicking the fat fuck. "You keep you filthy hands off my girlfriend!"

**The Weekend Whip – The Fold – 3:41**

"Yuffie! I have a favor to ask!" Zack barreled into the girl's room. Yuffie lowered the magazine she'd been skimming to her lap and rolled her head over to look square at the older teen from where she lounged on her bed.

"What's up, Puppy!" She chirped, sitting up and grinning at her favorite scape goat, uh, treasure hunter.

"Teach me how to be a ninja!" Yuffie faltered, not sure how serious the other teen was being at that moment. Zack continued to stare expectantly and she sighed.

"Why?"

"Uh… because I think I could be great at it," Zack shrugged, not having entirely thought it through but wanting to do it now that the idea had been presented. He knew he could. He just needed someone with more experience to help him learn. And that's where the young treasure princess (as she called herself) came in. "Please!" he threw onto the end, hamming up the puppy eyes for extra persuasive power. He knew she could never say no to him when he did that. Yuffie shut her eyes immediately, attempting to resist the force of those eyes, but ultimately failed.

"Fine!" She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. Zack whooped. "But!" Zack paused mid fist pump. "I am a very strict teacher and if you don't take this seriously you are going to wish you had never thought of this. Am I clear?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Yuffie grinned.

"Good." This would be fun…

**In the Next Room – Neon Trees – 3:51 (ZackxRenoxCloud)**

Cloud curled into his blankets and wished he could drown out the sounds coming through the wall from the room next door. Every other day it was either one or the other. One night it came from Reno's side of the apartments, the next afternoon it was Zack's. Why were his neighbors such man whores?!

The blonde would admit, some nights both men played in some of his more improper fantasies, but that didn't mean that he wanted to listen to them go at it with whomever every night. More moans echoed from the wall and Cloud pulled the blanket over hs head, once more trying to block out the noise. There were thumps every now and again and he found himself wondering exactly what was happening though, of course, he had a clue.

Remembering that there was something like a peep hole in one part of his wall which if he looked through it would give him a view into Reno's measly one bedroom apartment (all of their apartments were simple one bedroom motel-style rooms), Cloud crawled over to it and threw caution to the wind. The second he looked he both wished he hadn't and asked himself why he hadn't done it sooner.

On the other side of the wall, Reno lay on his back on his surprisingly sturdy coffee table with Zack, of all people, above him and thrusting forcefully into the redhead's ass.

An unconscious moan left the blonde's throat and he ducked. In the next room, two men smirked at the sound. Finally, it seemed their plan was getting somewhere.

**Kill Everyone – Hollywood Undead – 2:52 (SephirothxCloud)**

Sephiroth smirked as he approached the fat man who had authorized all of it. President Shinra sat in his office chair completely frozen with terror as the silver-haired demon stalked forward. Masamune extended toward the man, killing intent radiating from the man who wielded here. Sephiroth's smirk grew as he reached the man.

"Anything you wish to say, President? Before your life becomes forfeit."

Shinra could say nothing, the fear clogging his throat. Sephiroth cared nothing for this man and allowed him no more than those few seconds to continue living. Lightning fast movements had Masamune buried in the man's chest before anyone ever noticed.

Years later, Cloud shook his head with a chuckle as all life on the world had ceased to exist millennia ago and only one silver angel remained with him on the barren planet.

Jenova had had _nothing_ to do with it.

**24 – Jem – 3:52 – ASGZC**

Cloud exhaled, letting the information sink in. He'd told them. Now they knew. He had managed to keep it a secret for this long, but he had already lost consciousness suddenly in their presence once. He had managed to pass it off as having not slept (thanks to the doctor he'd made promise him that he would allow Cloud to be the one to tell them) but after it happening two more times, thankfully when they hadn't been around, he knew he could no longer keep it from them. So he had told them. And now they knew.

Looking around the office at the faces of his lovers, it hurt him to know tht this was hurting them. He didn't mind so much for himself, he wasn't afraid of dying, but these four wonderful men. He didn't want to leave them like this. If there were any way not to, he would take it in a heartbeat. Nothing could be done, however, and that was all there was to it.

He estimated he had maybe one more twenty-four hours before his body caught up with him and he could no longer leave a bed for longer than maybe five to ten minutes at a time. So today was all he had and he was going to make the most of it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to them as he watched them process. "I know I should have told you all earlier, but now that I can't hide it anymore I have one request." Besides the one I just asked, he mentally corrected himself.

"What is it?" It was Angeal who spoke and Cloud gave a grateful little smile his way.

"Take the day off?"

It was the one thing he wanted today. To spend that entire twenty-four hours with them.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Alright! I have caught up! Finally, Day 16 (For you people in the appropriate time zones, of course). I apologize sincerely and with all my heart to everyone who was reading and following this! I hope I don't do this again, but I can't guarantee since this week's work schedule looks just as hectic as this last one. But, we'll see. Real Life's a bitch that way. I did five for this day to make up for the only three drabbles all these other days. I would've done more, but I'm tired as fuck now…

My Favorite for today was probably Kill Everyone or In the Next Room. Let's just say both. I liked them. Repeats were just 24. In reverse order, 24 was something like a continuation of Prelude but not really though it is sort of in the same universe. Like an alternate bit. Kill Everyone had more of an idea behind it, but time ran out. Still, I love the last line I wrote for that. In the Next Room, self-explanatory. The Weekend Whip is supposed to be set in my From SOLDIER with Love universe, in the past. It wasn't originally gonna be but when I went to write right, I wrote left instead and this happened. But I enjoyed it so, meh. Next Contestant is also self-explanatory. On a side note, I do write my pairings in semexuke format, if anyone ever wondered...

Thank you all so much for reading, I hope none of you have given up on me. I'm so sorry! Thanks, as always, to **DarkHikariTwilight**! Love You!

Please Review, Alert, and Favorite, everybody~! There are only Nine More Days til Christmas!


	17. I'm Dead! Just dead

**AN: **Same excuse as previously, only with less days… for now. Apologies. But, with recent events and resulting delays taken into account, I've decided I really will not be doing this again next year. Still, I do enjoy this so I might think of something else to do. Maybe. In any case, I hope you all keep following along with me for the rest of the countdown this year. Thank you to all who are reading… if anyone is :)

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 17, 2013**

**Dead and Gone – Cute Is What We Aim For (cover) – 4:55**

"Hey, Cloud," Zack asked the blonde sitting propped against the side of the truck bed across from him. "What are you gonna do when we get back to Midgar?" There was no answer, but the raven-haired man continued. "Ha, I'm kidding. Of course, we'll stick together. I was thinking we could be mercenaries. Two ex-Soldiers, we could work for hire, killing monsters, saving damsels." A grin spread on his face as he reached over and ruffled the younger man's unruly blonde spikes. "What do you say, Chocobo? Does that sound good?"

What happened next was nothing more than a blur of sights, sounds, and emotions. Adrenalin coursed through Zack's body as he made escape his top priority. Just as it seemed they would make it, he saw them. Rows of them, all waiting for him to rush their way. Quickly, Zack ducked behind an outcropping of rocks on the bluff he found himself at. He carefully shrugged his comatose friend to the ground and propped him against the rocks. Smiling fondly, he left him there. If nothing else, he would protect him.

Without preamble, the ex-SOLDIER First Class stepped before the crowd of infantry gunning for him and charged.

Cloud Strife woke with the feeling of having a murder of crows swarming about in his head, vision coming and going in an uncomfortable way. His body felt heavy, but the first thing that came to mind was the face of his best friend. Where was he? As he gazed about, he spotted him, a vague shape in the distance. Unable to stand, the blonde crawled. Events would blur until they eventually blanked out, but the emotions that surfaced in that moment would always linger.

"…you'll be my living legacy…"

Deep blue eyes gazed across vast wastelands to the ruins of what once was a sprawling city.

"You asked me to live for both of us…"

**When I Was Your Man – Bruno Mars – 3:40 (VincentxCloud; past GenesisxCloud)**

A splash of familiar blonde made him look down and the auburn-haired man watched as the man he once knew as a teen walked by on the street below. Genesis couldn't help but let his gaze drift to the dark-haired man stood next to the blonde. A brief moment of recognition occurred before quickly fading and it took some minutes before Genesis could put a name to the face. It clicked in a sudden moment.

Vincent Valentine.

This was the man Cloud was with now.

A feeling of immediate jealousy thrummed through the redhead's chest and he was halfway up before another familiar emotion replaced it. All in a moment, he slumped back to his previous place on the decaying rafters of the old abandoned church. There was nothing he could do about this. He had given Cloud's new man his silent blessing (though as far as Cloud was concerned, what Genesis thought about Vincent didn't matter). Genesis knew that this Vincent could make Cloud much happier than he could.

Looking down at him, he could tell that Cloud was happy. That was all that mattered.

**All the Right Moves – One Republic – 3:56**

Cloud could only take a moment to glance around the battlefield, but what he saw was not encouraging. Two of the three helicopters they had started with were grounded with varying degrees of damage while almost half of their ground forces were fatally injured or severely fatigued. The few personnel they had acting as medical were working as quickly as they could to heal and replenish stamina and magic as fast as was possible, but it wasn't producing results with any real advantage.

They had come into this war with the odds entirely against them, all of them knew what the battles would be like. For every battle fought and won there were almost an equal amount that were lost. Every battle, win or lose, left them with fewer men in any kind of shape for the next fight. Already, Angeal had been put on the sidelines (always watching out for everyone else more than for himself) and he and Zack were running on fumes as time went on. Sephiroth and Genesis were a category all their own, but even they had their limits which steadily encroached with every battle.

While all of this was a definite hit on the overall morale of their forces, the amount of damage they caused to the ShinRa armies was nothing to sneeze at. For all the damage taken, twice was given. The problem was that resources were limited for them in a way that it was not for ShinRa.

Concerned blue eyes met with calculating green and determined violet. Zack nodded. This wasn't an impossible fight. They would not give up. Cloud unlatched one blade from the whole of the other and spun a complete three-sixty. No way would they simply let ShinRa win.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Well, I dunno if you can tell but I have not been feeling any of the stories this year… writer's block is a bitch! I haven't had any drive for this since my laptop died and my From SOLDIER with Love muse went and attempted to suicide herself via Turk helicopter and stolen ShinRa motorcycle. But I digress.

This day's favorite was probably the last one. All the Right Moves is set in my Frontline 'verse. Just another random snippet. As for repeats I think that one was the only one.

Stick around for Day Eighteen!


	18. Did I Mention I Was DEAD?

**AN: **Day Eighteen…

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 18, 2013**

**Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr. – 4:06**

"Um," Cloud wandered through the eerily empty corridor, shoulders hunched in as he went, jumping at every small noise that echoed in the space around him. "I-is anyone there…?" Something shuffled in the corner and the blonde whirled his flashlight in the direction of the sound, hoping nothing was there while at the same time wishing he knew what had made the sound so that he could stop worrying. Just as the light met the center of the wall just ahead of where he stood…

"Boo!"

"Ah!" Cloud's yell echoed in the long mostly empty hall and he jumped before skittering as far back as he could. His back collided with something firm and hard and Cloud jumped again when a chuckle sounded from above his head. Turning, Cloud pointed the light of his flashlight upwards, illuminating the grinning face of a spiky-haired raven with laughing violet eyes. The man reached out and ruffled blonde spikes.

"Hiya," He grinned. "How ya doin', chocobo?" Cloud briefly wondered what a chocobo was but shook the stray thought from his head when another voice came from behind.

"Yo! Calm down there, kiddo," a smirking redhead pet his head as well. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

**Cry Me A River – Justin Timberlake – 4:50 (GenesisxCloud; RufusxCloud)**

Cloud watched as Genesis stormed from the living room and into the room they usually shared. There was a lot of banging and quite a few curses from the redhead (Cloud was sure the man was about three seconds from setting the room on fire) before he came back out with one large suit case in hand and a duffle around his shoulders.

There were no words as the auburn-haired man walked out the door. Everything had already been said. Cloud could remember the hurt behind the anger in grey blue violet eyes. The love even beyond that. Moisture pooled at the edges of his eyes as he watched his once lover climb into his red firebird and drive away. The worst part of all of it was the damning knowledge that he deserved all of it and more for what he had done. Done not only once, but multiple times.

Guilt was only the beginning of what he was feeling in this moment.

~You don't have to say what you did, I already know. I found out from him~

Cloud refused to answer the phs, knowing by the ringtone who was on the other end of the call. Sure enough, once the ringing stopped his voicemail automatically switched to speaker mode.

"Hello, Cloud," that familiar voice came from the device, sounding calm and unconcerned despite what happened only last night. Cloud wished he could reach through the phone and strangle the other blonde. He wished he could blame Rufus for all of this, but he couldn't. His role in this was nothing more than a minor influence and now…

Cloud doubted he would ever have a chance with Genesis again.

**Get Lucky – Daft Punk – 6:09 – ASGZC**

Crimson Spell: What time is it for all of you?

Love Neko: -sigh- Nearly 0200

Sex Pistol: Ha, same here~ x3

Little Butterfly: It's around midnight here…

Crimson Spell: Oh, really? That's the time it is where I am, as well.

Sex Pistol: No way~ Really? That's so not fair! I wanna be where my chocobo is, too!

Sex Therapist: Settle down, Pup. It's around ten at night where I am at the moment. Why do you ask, Red?

…Crimson Spell is typing…

Crimson Spell: I was simply curious. Now I know that our Chocobo is somewhere nearby! :3

Sex Therapist: And why exactly would you want to know that?

Crimson Spell: Relax. I'm not planning to do anything with the information.

Sex Pistol: Why don't I feel any better about it even with the reassurance? What are you planning, hm?

Crimson Spell: Nothing. Why won't you believe me?

Love Neko: We don't usually trust you as a general rule. When it comes to you, it's a matter of guilty until proven innocent.

Crimson Spell: That's not very nice, Kitty-cat. =3=

Love Neko: …

…Little Butterfly is typing…

Little Butterfly: Do I get a say in any of this pointless arguing?

Sex Pistol: Ha ha, of course not, my little chocobo~! There's nothing for you to say!

Little Butterfly: -crosses arms- I think there's plenty to say.

Sex Therapist: Like what?

Little Butterfly: Well…

Crimson Spell: Yes, little chocobo, like what?

Little Butterfly: …

Sex Pistol: Aw, I think you scared him off, Red

Crimson Spell: Nonsense

Love Neko: …

Little Butterfly: I… I wouldn't mind…

Sex Pistol: Wouldn't mind…? –tilts head- Huh?

Crimson Spell: -smirks- Wouldn't mind what?

Little Butterfly: x/x

Love Neko: …I see…

Crimson Spell: That could be arranged…

Love Neko: Indeed -smirk-

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **I really really wish I'd had more time for the last one and more of a creative urge for any of this. I really hate my errant muse right now. And Writer's Block! Gah! Anyway, favorite today was Get Lucky. Repeats were only Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters was something like 'something that happened before the team formed' type of thing that takes place in the 'verse for the same song the previous two years. Cry Me a River is set in the 'verse from last year's What Goes Around… and various other songs last year that were tied into it. Get Lucky is instant messaging with ASGZC across Gaia. It's fairly easy to guess who's who, but I hope you all caught the references of their names. It's all titles of yaoi manga. They were off the top of my head, but I like the way they corresponded. Like I said, wish I'd had more time for that one. It really was my favorite for this day!

Now, read on for Day Nineteen!


	19. Super Junior is LOVE!

**AN: **And Day Nineteen (which is my today)… with any luck I will have Day Twenty out tomorrow after work. Apologies for the wacked out updates this year. Sorrys. But here is day nineteen, hope you like!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 19, 2013**

**It's You – Super Junior – 3:49 (AngealxCloud; past AngealxZackxCloud)**

The sun trailed rays through the slats of the blinds, barely allowing light to flow into the room. Licks of sunlight steadily grew across the carpeted floor of the bedroom and up onto the covers of the bed. Angeal sat with his back to the headboard, for how long he wasn't sure, simply contemplating the passage of time while lightly trailing his fingers through the mess of soft blonde spikes of the man beside him on the bed.

So much time had passed since he had first stumbled across Cloud's existence. He had been a mere infantryman when Angeal had first laid eyes on him. Barely more than a child, yet so much more than simply that. So much had happened between that first glimpse and their actual meeting. Angeal had nearly lost his life twice before he'd gotten the chance to speak with the blonde. Once they had spoken, it had taken another eternity for their relationship to develop from simple acquaintances to friends and from friends to lovers. Even when they had become lovers there had been a wall. Something that kept a distance between them. It hadn't been until their mutual friend and the reason for their being together, Zack, had met with something unfortunate that they had realized what had been keeping them apart.

Zack had glued them together. His love, his warmth, his unending happiness and enthusiasm. His strength.

It hadn't lasted long, but in true Zack fashion their relationship had grown stronger while the overgrown puppy had been with them. So very many years had passed since then. Angeal allowed a small fond smile to play on his lips as his hand stopped its petting. No matter how much time there was, had been, and was yet to come, Angeal would never cease to love this man sleeping peacefully beside him. Nor the man watching dedicatedly over them.

**Organization XIII – KH2 OST – 1:22**

"I understand why we are who we are," Zack began as they walked as one towards the convention they would be appearing at. "But it confuses me that we are going to this thing as The Organization when everyone is supposed to be able to tell that it's us."

"It isn't obvious enough?" Genesis scoffed from his place somewhere on Zack's right. "Just because we wear the cloaks and carry the weapons, it doesn't change the fact that all of us kept our hair and other distinguishing features."

"Well, most of us have the same basic hair-type as our characters," Cloud stated.

"Not true. That's really only you and Seph," Zack pointed out. Cloud shrugged. Details.

**I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers – 3:36 (TsengxCloud)**

Tseng stood for it seemed like the millionth time and promptly sat back down. He refused to go back to the pacing he'd been doing for the better part of the morning both yesterday and today. Instead, he opted to sit as rigidly straight as possible in his sofa chair. He would not allow himself to fidget and worry. Cloud could take care of himself, for the most part. No matter that he was merely a cadet, not even regular infantry.

Tseng shook his head once to clear those negative possibilities before they could spiral out further. Cloud was fine. He was only a day and a half delayed. That was it. A knock on the door, more like one hard thud, tore Tseng from his fretting (though he'd strongly deny that he did anything even remotely resembling such an act). In three jerky movements, the commander of the Turks was at his door and opening it in one hard yank. Immediately, a familiar blonde young man smiled at him, bright but tired blue eyes looking relieved to see the Wutaian man in the doorway.

"I'm, uh… home," The next moment, Cloud fell forward into firm arms and Tseng was swinging the cadet into his arms like a princess and striding to the bedroom to place him on the soft matress. Tseng chuckled.

"Welcome home, Cloud," the man gave his usual tilt of the lips that resembled something sort of like a smile and bent to place a quick kiss to severely cracked lips. The blonde must have walked forever to reach him, but now that he was here Tseng would make sure that he was well cared for. And more importantly, that he was safe.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **And Done! Yes! As I mentioned earlier, hopefully I can get tomorrow up directly after work. Here's hoping…

On a side note! I Love Super Junior!

Favorite of the Day was… don't have one. They were all kind of meh-ish for me today. But I liked them. Repeats were I'm Gonna Be and OrgXIII. Now, I'm going to sleep because I have to get up at one and go to work in the morning. So! Bye bye for now~! Please don't give up on me and keep reading on for the remaining five days.

Please Review!


	20. Slow Ass Internet Pisses Me The Fuck OFF

**AN: **Ugh, so tired… Day Twenty peeps! Five days left until Christmas!

Actually wrote the above and below on day twenty, but well…. Life happened and I didn't get to upload it. The hecticness of the season should be mostly done now, though, so with any luck no more skipping! Day Twenty, people.

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 20, 2013**

**Take Me Back – Story of the Year – 4:07**

Cloud had never been one for long answers, he mused when Tifa stared for a minute longer. He wasn't too sure what kind of child he'd been, but he was sure he hadn't talked to anyone long enough for his attitude to come into question. Especially not Tifa Lockhart, the Mayor's daughter. In fact, it was safe to assume that he had been a complete outcast as a child.

Still…

"Um," Cloud looked over at Tifa when she broke the awkward silence that had fallen between them. She immediately averted her gaze to look around them. He couldn't blame her, they were complete strangers as children, after all. "Did you follow me?"

The blonde nearly laughed at the affronted and yet confused look that crossed his once-upon-a-time comrade's face. It looked as if she didn't know why Cloud _would _follow her and at the same time was appalled that someone like Cloud had actually done so. Cloud didn't bother to give a proper answer, merely shrugging and turning to survey their surroundings in hopes of finding a way out of the ravine.

"We should head this way," he determined at length. A stomp from behind him had him looking over his shoulder at the girl and he had to keep an amused smirk from his lips. There she stood, a miniature of the woman she would eventually become (or possibly not, depending) arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"Excuse me," she asked, obviously not keen on listening to the village outcast, no matter how much logic dictated it was probably her best bet. "I don't have to listen to you."

Cloud rolled his eyes. Why had Gaia sent him to this exact moment?

**La Isla Bonita – Madonna – 4:04 (CissneixTifa)**

"Ah," Cissnei stretched her arms as she stepped onto the beach in Costa del Sol. The sun shone down from its zenith in the clear blue sky, the warmth of it on her face a wonderful feeling. Combined with the feel of the sand beneath her bare feet, she wished her days in the vacation town weren't numbered. Arms snaked around her waste from the front, large breasts pressed against her comparatively smaller ones, and she dropped her face to meet foreheads with her fiancée.

Yes. Fiancee.

They were engaged now, which was the entire reason for this two week vacation of sorts. It was more of a mission with extended time for leisure, but the details were all but ignored in the face of their happiness. Besides, Cissnei would be done quickly and then it really would be a vacation. Cissnei smiled and captured Tifa's soft pink lips with her own.

"Well," the Turk questioned once she pulled away. "What do you want to do first?"

"It's a beach," Tifa laughed, pulling away to step further towards the ocean. "We swim, of course."

Cissnei giggled, taking the chance to ogle the other woman. Tifa looked both beautiful and enticing in a skimpy two-piece. Her ample chest barely covered at all by the white top with red polka-dots only held on by two sets of thin straps around her neck and back. In the back of her mind, the orange-haired female promised that she would enjoy herself with that body later that night. But for now…

"Alright," she smiled. She took a second to unzip the beach jacket she'd been wearing and drop it to the ground. "Let's swim."

**Men In Black – Forever the Sickest Kids (cover) – 3:05**

Reno strut across the street alongside his ever silent partner, black suit open and white shirt untucked with the two top and bottom buttons undone; a complete contrast to Rude's meticulously worm uniform. Up ahead of them, a group of people milled about in varying states of awe, shock, or fear along the edges of a ridiculously large crater. It was pretty hard to miss, being in the center of the city like it was. Reno heard his partner sigh and echoed the sentiment in his mind as they reached the gaping hole.

"Hello, people," the redhead purposely called attention to himself as he approached. "What's all the commotion? Anything happenin' 'round here, yo?"

People around him were looking at him as if he had three heads and he grinned at them. Yes, of course he noticed the obvious dent in the ground, light filtering through the hole in the plate above them. Tseng and Elena were upstairs taking care of the gawkers up there. Wouldn't do to have people suddenly questioning things that were not to be questioned. Only moments ago something, and they weren't entirely sure what that something was just yet, had crashed through the plate and into the slums. Whatever it was had then decided it was a good idea to get the fuck out of dodge in plain sight of everyone around. Not the smartest move, but well, they weren't going to assume that whatever it was was smart to begin with. In any case…

"Alright! Now everyone look at this," The redhead slipped on a pair of shades and directed everyone's attention to the odd silver device in his hands. "Have a great day, ya'll!" The flash lit up the entire area.

Well, that took care of that.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Turks are totally MIB agents in a different universe~ Anyway, Favorite was MIB. Repeats were… just Take Me Back. Song one, Take Me Back, is a direct continuation of last year's drabble for the same song. Last year's was a direct continuation of the year before that. As of this year, that universe has become a work in progress. Yes, I have begun my Time-travel fic. It will not be uploaded if I don't finish it, which means I'm not uploading any of it until the entire thing is completed. Tough cookies! The rest speak for themselves.

Anyway, on to the next day. I really hate skipping days! Dx


	21. Piece of Damn Shit Internet!

**AN: **Day Twenty-One…

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 21, 2013**

**Riot – Three Days Grace – 3:27**

"What do we want?!" Zack yelled, leading the march around the front of the ShinRa complex.

"Vacation!" the handful of people answered. They waved about their signs with quirky quips scrawled across them and stomped about in a little circle. They looked absolutely ridiculous, but they really had nothing better to do. Zack stood in the center of them, not marching but stomping plenty and shouting lots.

"When do we want it?!"

"Now!" Only one of them actually said. The other shouts varied. All tangled into a garbled sort of something. Unsurprisingly, it had been Genesis who had shouted the correct word. Zack shrugged. They weren't really expecting results from their little impromptu protest, anyway. He started again.

"What do we want?!"

"Vacation!" Zack almost laughed at Sephiroth's monotone answer. He wasn't even shouting, nor stomping. He was sitting a few feet away on a convenient fountain base.

"When do we want it?!"

"Sometime this week!" Zack allowed himself to chuckle at that one. It seemed Genesis had decided to change it up. Well, it worked for him and the others didn't seem to really care. Zack laughed and the chanting continued. You never knew, maybe the fat man would get annoyed and actually give them what they wanted.

**Stronger – Trust Company – 2:50**

Cloud had never worked so hard for anything as he had for this moment. His nerves were frayed as he stood among all the other cadets awaiting the moment when their fates would be announced. It was torture. Making them stand here for almost an hour until whoever it was came out and read off the list of who had made it and who had not. Cloud was this close to screaming and ripping his hair out.

He wanted this more than anything.

To be a SOLDIER.

His entire childhood had boiled down to this.

The door to the side of the training room opened and you could've heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. As one, the group of cadets watched their CO walk what could only be purposely slowly to the front of the room. When he finally did reach it, the man cleared his throat and began to read off the names on the paper he held before him.

There was no ceremony, no preamble or preparation, just the listing of names in a monotone drone. Still, he listened to every word, praying for his name.

"…Skarlinx, Stanley, Strife…"

He'd almost missed it, but there it was. He was SOLDIER.

**Flavor of the Week – American Hi-Fi – 3:02 (almost GenesisxCloud)**

"Hey, Teef?" Cloud spoke from the doorway of the woman's bedroom. She didn't bother to look up from the magazine she had her nose buried in, only giving a hum to acknowledge that she was (probably only half) listening. Cloud inwardly sighed. "I'm going to hang around with Genesis today. Alright?"

He didn't even get a hum this time, just a nod of the head. Cloud wouldn't let it bother him, this was the usual these days. Some days it was worse. Most days it felt like he was only around to keep the dishes washed and the house relatively clean. Tifa only ever sat around and watched tv or read magazines and otherwise acted like her usual spoiled princess self. With one more sigh, Cloud left the apartment, glad to be out for even a few hours.

"Cloud, over here," an auburn-haired man waved when the blonde reached the center of Sector 8. Cloud smiled, a genuine smile he hadn't had the chance to show in over a week. Slender fingers slipped into his wild spikes and gently ruffled them. "Hey."

"Hey," he answered back, unable to stop smiling.

"How are you?" Genesis asked. Not liking the way Cloud had been looking before he had spotted him. He was hesitant to ask, but he knew it had to be something to do with Tifa. Even if he did ask, Cloud wouldn't give a proper answer. Genesis wasn't sure why he was still with that wench. She didn't appreciate the blonde at all.

If it were him, the redhead would never let Cloud feel anything but happy.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN**: Onward! Repeats: Stronger. Favorite? Uh… maybe the first. Either way. Next Day!


	22. For Fuckin Serious, Dammit!

**AN: **Day Twenty-Two!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 22, 2013**

**Racist Coffee – Julian Smith – 2:11**

"Angeal!" Zack's voice called from the kitchen and Angeal was not looking forward to whatever it was this early in the morning. Still, he dragged himself to where his student was.

"What is it, Puppy?"

"Genesis is being racist!" the spiky-haired teen accused, pointing his finger at the redhead leaning against the counter and sipping at a cup of what he assumed was coffee. Angeal fought the urge to sigh. Why did he have to put up with this at, he looked over at the clock on the microwave, six in the morning. Slate grey eyes slid over to meet the annoyed blue of Genesis'. The other man only rolled his eyes and took another gulp of his coffee, two sugars five creams.

"What exactly are you going on about, Zack?"

"Well," the younger raven-haired man began. "Genesis only drinks coffee with cream and sugar. He doesn't drink it black. At All. I was telling him that that's not fair. All drinks are created equal and drinking only white coffee is racist and he laughed and said that that was stupid. But I know for a fact that Sephiroth drinks it both ways. So do you, for that matter. And Cloudy. And me. I drink it both black and white."

Zack had spoken all in one breath and Angeal was already leaving the room by the time he had finished. He wanted no part in this argument.

**Sex – Nickelback – 3:55 (ZackxRenoxCloud)**

"Now?" Cloud sounded both hesitant and needy as he breathed the question. A hand was doing gaia only knew what at the front of his pants. He wanted to look over at the owner of that hand but his eyes were currently locked with another pair of lighter blue eyes up ahead.

"Of course, babe," Reno grinned at him over his shoulder, keeping one eye on the road through the windshield. He was enjoying the play of expression on their little blonde's face as he drove, loving the show he was catching in the rearview mirror. He met the violet gaze of Zack to the blonde's left and gave a quick nod. Zack's answering grin sent a pleasant shiver up the redhead's spine and he watched eagerly as the raven-haired man shifted in his seat to hover more fully over Cloud's panting body.

"Don't worry, Cloud," Zack purred into the blonde's ear. "No one can see inside here, the windows are tinted pitch black. I promise." Swift hands were making quick work of the scarf and sweater Cloud wore and soon were unbuttoning his cargos, taking a moment to pull the zipper slower than necessary just to tease. "It's just you, me, and Reno. Well," he paused with a smirk. "Reno's driving so he can't really do anything, but we know you love it when we watch."

Cloud could only writhe at this point, feeling Reno watching while Zack took a hand to his member. He hadn't thought they would do this, but in retrospect it probably should've been obvious. He had only asked a simple question. Cloud's thought process quickly derailed at Zack's ministration.

It was just his luck he had two hornier-than-was-strictly-normal boyfriends.

**Thanks for the Memories – Fall Out Boy – 3:27 (TsengxCloud)**

He hadn't expected to meet her there. He hadn't expected to see her at all for that matter. He was pretty sure he was never going to see her again. Yet here she was. A waitress at one of the more popular restaurants on the plate. Looking at the man across from him, Cloud could also say he hadn't expected to meet her while on a date with his, now, fiancée.

"Cloud," Tifa chirped, sounding happy to see him, as if the last time they'd seen each other hadn't been the night they broke up. Cloud stared at her for a good minute before a soft kick under the table had him shaking his head clear and responding.

"T-tifa," he cleared his throat and gave a small smile. "Hi. Long time no see."

"I know," she gushed. He saw the moment she noticed his companion. She froze for a second before schooling her expression into a smile again. He noticed it didn't quite seem as genuine. "And who is this?"

Cloud sat up a little straighter and smiled, a happy smile that lit up his eyes. He didn't notice the smile on her face slip just that bit more, but his fiancée did. He didn't say anything, however, only giving a polite smile to the waitress that had apparently been a girlfriend of Cloud's from who knew when, from what he could deduce from the situation.

"Tseng," Cloud gestured. "This is Tifa, she, uh, was a friend way back when we were teenagers. Tifa, this is Tseng." Cloud's smile grew with his next words. "My fiancée."

At that moment, Cloud felt pleased with the direction he'd taken all those years ago. Telling Tifa 'no' had been the best decision he'd ever made. Sure they had some decent times, but now he had Tseng and Tseng was a million times greater.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Heart TsengxCloud! Repeats… I don't think I repeated anything. Favorite? Racist Coffee. Gotta Love the Crack. Now on to today so I can be caught up and stuff!


	23. GAWD!

**AN: **This is the last day of Normal Songs! I have caught up, but well, it seems horrible to only have caught up on the day before Christmas Eve. At this hour no less… I apologize immensely! In any case, I hope you all stick with me for the final days. I'm sorry about all the skipping this year. Rest assured I have cemented my decision to not do this again next year. I WILL do something like this but not so deadline-y next year however, because I really liked doing this. Despite the hectic-ness this year.

Thank you to everyone for keeping with me and reading! **Dark Hikari Twilight. Tobirion.** Love you! Here is Day Twenty-Three!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 23, 2013**

**Sadie Hawkins Dance – Reliant K – 2:59 (SephirothxCloud)**

Cloud paced about in the guy's bathroom feeling like an idiot for doing so while wondering what people would think if they walked in and saw him like this. He stopped and stood in front of the mirror at the sink, giving himself a good slap to the cheeks. "Get ahold of yourself, Strife!" he demanded of his reflection. "You can do this!"

Nodding firmly to himself in the mirror, he repeated the pep talk in his mind and straightened up. Yes. He could do this. Simple. All he had to do was march into the cafeteria and ask. Nothing to it. The worst that could happen was that he'd get a 'no' for an answer, right? Right.

As he walked, one foot in front of the other, to the school cafeteria his mind wandered. It was a girl's choice dance. Did that make him the girl, since he was the one asking? Cloud shook his head. That didn't matter. They were both guys. It just seemed more natural for him to ask was all. With a final gulp, the teen pushed the cafeteria doors open and walked in, immediately spotting the person he needed. He stepped over and stood there. Bright green eyes came up and met his and Cloud froze. It took a minute for him to work his jaw and once he did all that came out for a moment was air.

"S-sephiroth," he finally got out. "Wouldyougotothedancewithme?!" The silver-haired junior chuckled, not answering. Cloud's heart sunk to his toes. He almost missed that sweet baritone a second later.

"I would love to, Cloud."

**Take Me on the Floor – The Veronicas – 3:30 (GenesisxCloud)**

"G-gen," Cloud let out a breath as lips tickled his neck just below his jaw. Deft hands wandered beneath his uniform sweater, fingers skimming over his stomach and nipples. "We're not even all the way inside the apartment, Gen."

Cloud's protests landed on deaf ears as the redhead only continued his groping. They had been eager even before reaching their floor, hands feeling and lips meeting as they'd ridden the elevator up. There had been a brief lull as Genesis had fished his keys from his pocket and opened the door, but once it was open all thought of waiting flew out the window. Now here they were, door barely closed belongings dropped unceremoniously at the entrance, bodies sprawled across the floor of the entry hall. They were mere feet from the front door, but Genesis didn't seem to care and while Cloud sort of minded, his thoughts were quickly turning in different directions with each passing second.

"Genesis," Cloud whined, stubbornly holding onto his ire at being taken in their front hallway. Sure, it wasn't as if anyone was going to just walk in (unless it was Zack since he somehow always managed to get in without a key), but it was the principal of it. He wasn't an animal. Lean fingers suddenly dove into loose cargos and Cloud's determination wavered at the stimulation being provided. "G-nngh-Gen!"

Maybe this was alright. The floor was as good as anywhere else.

**Gotta Be Somebody – Nickelback – 4:13 (ZackxCloud)**

It had happened in one remarkable instant. One second he had been flying (not literally, unfortunately) through the halls of ShinRa in search of someone, anyone, to play with because he was bored as all hell at that particular moment in time; the next moment brilliant blue eyes and spiky wheat blonde hair had streaked past the corner of his vision just as he turned the corner. It was as if time had stood completely still, not moving in the slightest as pretty blue eyes widened and perfect bow lips parted in an attempt to say something. That immovable moment snapped and everything moved in real time the next second as Zack collided with that other being.

"Ow," Zack groaned, wincing as he pushed himself to stand while feeling around on his forehead for the bump that was no doubt already forming. Somewhere to the right of him an almost identical groan came from some other person and after righting himself, the spiky-haired puppy looked over. He promptly froze.

On the ground a few meters away, clutching his head and attempting to stand, was him. There was no other way he could describe it in his mind except for 'him'.

The one. His one. The one he'd always been looking for. Waiting on. Wishing all his life to have.

Zack moved without conscious thought, stepping forward and stretching his hand just in front of the little blonde still trying to stand. Blue eyes looked up and caught his own violet and he sent the teen a beaming grin, helping him to stand once he took his hand.

"Sorry about that. You alright?"

"Yeah," the kid's voice was the icing on the cake and Zack's grin couldn't get any wider. This person was his, he just knew it, and he wouldn't want it any other way. "Thank you."

"No problem. Name's Zack!"

"Cloud. Cloud Strife."

**Talking In Your Sleep – The Romantics – 3:56 (AngealxCloud)**

Angeal heaved a large sigh as he trudged into the apartment at gaia knew what hour in the night. All he knew was that it was after midnight and he wanted to flop on his massive king-sized bed and sleep until tomorrow morning. He didn't do that, however. First he stashed the Buster in its place in the coat closet, grabbed a midnight snack from the kitchen (Cloud had left something from dinner, it seemed), then dragged himself into his bathroom for a shower. Once that was all done, then he allowed himself to go to bed. Oh, Angeal reached down and bundled the filthy uniform he'd shucked before his shower. He tossed them into the hamper in the far corner of the room, making a mental note to through them in the wash first thing in the morning.

Finally, he let himself fall into bed. He was mindful of the little blonde curled into a ball on one side of the mattress, fitting himself firmly around him. One arm draped over that form, pulling him from his little ball and into a more comfortable position spooned against him, back to chest. Angeal relaxed, but didn't sleep. Instead he waited.

"Angeal?"

"Yes, Cloud," Angeal answered, knowing the blonde was still sleeping. He did this every night he spent with Cloud.

"Welcome home. I love you."

"I love you, too. Go to sleep," he gave a silent chuckle when the blonde nodded, still not awake or even slightly aware.

"K. Night, Angeal."

"Goodnight, Cloud."

**Into the Night – Santana ft. Chad Kroeger – 3:40 – (Eventual) ASGZC**

He had never meant to encounter them. Never even noticed he'd been approaching their camp until he was already stumbling into it, Zack literally crashing in just behind him. The second he'd come through the thick foliage that edged around their campsite (his younger lover had tumbled through spectacularly), all action had stopped. All eyes fell on them and for the longest time both just stood there staring back.

They were all dressed in a mishmash of materials and styles, each unique and all incredibly beautiful. Even beyond what they wore, every one there could be considered to possess angel-like beauty. It took a while for either one of the raven-haired men to find their thoughts, but once they had they still could not say a word. Finally, one of them stepped forward.

"Welcome." The striking young blonde greeted, a smile on bow lips as he gave something of a half-bow, the see-through material of his shirt shimmered in the fire light with the gesture. The spiky-haired youth gestured around with one hand. "Please join us and rest."

Angeal found himself nodding and stepped forward. He was vaguely aware of his lover's uncharacteristic silence as the younger raven gaped at their surroundings.

"Sit. Eat," a silver-haired man with a long multi-colored robe and fancy scarf-like belts about his waste invited, handing over a basket of fruit and a bowl of something that looked like soup and beans once they'd sat down. Zack thanked them and Angeal followed. A smoldering redhead, shirtless with baggy red pants made of the same material as the first's shirt passed on his way to the fire and Angeal watched as the other two and a few others moved to stand beside him.

"Enjoy the show, travelers," the redhead smirked and music played. And they danced.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Confession. I cheated just a little on that last one. But the story would've been blah without a few more sentences at the end. I don't care, it's the last day for normal songs and I really liked where it was going. Needless to say, I'm definitely going to expand it! Just because I love them and I wanted to, all of today's drabbles are Cloud with one of the Firsts! Yays!

Favorite today was…Into the Night, because like I said I loved it and want to expand! Repeats: Into the Night and Talking in Your Sleep. I didn't have too much trouble with the writer's block for these. Amazing, I know. Maybe it's cause it was those five characters specifically. Anyway! Thanks again to everybody! Review~! Much Love to All.


	24. YAYZ! Merry Christmas Eve, Peeps!

**AN: **So I caught up and now it's Christmas Eve~ just barely, here where I am. I go to work in about two hours so I'm going to write this and be on my way. Maybe, if I'm quick, I can get an hour of sleep. Luckily, the radio plays even this late.

By the way, as per usual, all drabbles today are Christmas Songs and I am writing them in a general universe so that all of them can be considered without pairing/just friendship. But if you really wanna know, the universe would be ASGZC. I use the radio for today because even after two years I still don't have my own Christmas music… especially not on my phone.

So! Without any more time wasting! Here is Day Twenty-Four!

Merry Christmas Eve, everybody~!

**-x-x-x-**

**DECEMBER 24, 2013**

**Jingle Bells**

Cloud was practically skipping through the snow. He didn't care, it was Christmas Eve. Currently, he was headed through the park to meet with Zack who had gotten them a chance to ride on a sleigh drawn by a chocobo all across the town. And wasn't it wonderful that they were spending Christmas this year in Kalm? Yes. Yes it was.

Zack knew a guy who knew a guy who owned a chocobo stable and gave people sleigh rides cheap every year around this time. Cloud didn't really care except that Zack was a wonderful person for inviting him along when he hadn't invited any of the others. Speaking of which…

"Zack?" Cloud asked as he approached the large sleigh. He assumed this was the one they would ride since the raven-haired man was already sitting in it. Along with some others he wasn't expecting to see. Not that he minded.

"Cloudy! Hop in!" Zack gestured wildly, nearly clipping Angeal on the chin. Genesis snickered at that. Across from them sat Aerith and Tifa and Cloud supposed that he would be sitting between the girls. He smiled and stepped up.

This would be fun.

**We Wish You A Merry Christmas**

"Do we really have to do this?" Zack whined, not really wanting to even as he dragged himself along behind the girls. Why had they pulled him into this? For that matter, why had he decided that right now was a good time to go meandering about without a purpose? He should've known Aerith would find him and just know he had nothing better to do. It was always like that.

"Yes," Tifa's voice answered from a few feet ahead and she giggled. Aerith, closer beside him than the other woman, smiled and nodded her head.

"Oh relax, Zack. You had nothing else to do and it won't kill you to help us out."

Zack supposed what she said was true, but it was the principal of it. He didn't feel like going all around town handing out cookies and wreaths and stockings filled with whatever the girls stuffed them with for all the little kids, but that didn't mean he minded. He liked seeing all the happy faces when they showed up. Aerith did this every year and most of the time he helped.

"Alright. Okay," he sighed, but the grin on his face showed he was having fun now.

**Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree**

Were they really doing this?

Cloud had to wonder at their collective sanity if they all thought this was going to turn out okay. People were walking by, some even stuck around and watched, as they set up for this thing they hadn't even planned to do. It was spur of the moment in the quintessential application of the word. They had literally just passed by and the thought had popped into the red-haired nutcase's head.

Oh yes, he completely blamed Reno for this. And Zack for taking the idea and gunning down the highway at mach 5 with it.

"Ready?"

Cloud turned to Zack as he asked that and nodded, still unsure about all of this but not ready to bother with attempting to flee from the two insane people beside him. Zack grinned at him and walked back to take his seat at the drumset that had been hastily set up in front of the giant Christmas tree in the center of town. Reno gave them both a thumbs up from where he was standing and strummed a few experimental notes on his sexy red and white bass.

Cloud took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on his own beautiful blue guitar. He wasn't too sure how this would develop as far as the town's reaction went, but he felt like doing this now that they'd gone this far and that was enough for him. With a wide smile, Cloud slashed across the strings.

"Merry Christmas!"

And they rocked.

**Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow**

Angeal took one step out of the house and almost immediately retreated back inside. The cold wasn't the problem, but there was a considerable amount of excess snow falling outside. He was all for snow. Really. He loved the stuff at this time of year. This much, however, was way too much. Had there been a blizzard warning?

Angeal shut the door with a loud bang and bolted it before trudging back into the house and turning on the large tv in the living room. Not two seconds passed before the woman who usually reported the weather was telling him that, yes, there was indeed a blizzard going on and if you wanted to be out in it you had to be absolutely insane. Angeal rolled his eyes and thanked the woman for nothing in his mind and dropped into the couch with a flop. Well, so much for that. He would just have to stay inside and entertain himself.

There was a fire going in the fireplace and he had a warm cup of hot chocolate waiting that he had planned to drink once he'd come back from the quick errand he'd planned to do earlier. Curled up on the couch now with said chocolate and a good book, Angeal found he didn't so much care that it was snowing up a storm outside. Let it snow, he was just fine and cozy in here.

**Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas**

"Cheers!"

All around the room, cups were lifted and drinks were downed. Smiles shone on every face and laughs came from various directions. This year they had decided that a Christmas party would be a great idea and Genesis was surprised to find that he was enjoying himself. Sure there were no presents exchanged among them, the party had been rather last minute. Still, it was fun.

They'd gotten together and had something of a Christmas game, just a really odd take on spin the bottle, but it had been both entertaining and embarrassing. Everything you needed at a party full of people you usually only worked with and on the rare occasion had a decent drink with. Genesis found that playing stupid party games with the Turks was incredibly amusing. He would have to try it again sometime.

As he looked about the room, watching everyone interacting and having a wonderful time, Genesis felt content. He hoped next year would be just as great; that they were all still around next year so that they could do this again.

For once in a long while, Genesis Rhapsodos felt truly happy, even if only for today.

**Here Comes Santa Claus**

Sephiroth made his way, silent as a shadow, through the house. Careful not to knock anything out of place and not to catch his hair on the stocking like he had unfortunately done last year, he crept forward and around the tree. Once he stopped, he smirked proudly. He had not dropped even one package off the crudely stacked pile he held in one hand. It was an accomplishment, even if Genesis poked fun at him for it every year.

Bending at the knees, Sephiroth reached up and plucked the topmost gift from the stack and placed it neatly beneath the tree. In this way, he continued until he'd placed the last box. Taking a step back, he surveyed his work and smiled. It looked perfect. He spared a sigh in his mind at the realization that tomorrow morning it would all be but a memory. There could be no doubt that once Zack awoke the entire display would be trashed.

Sephiroth paused. He could not let it end that way. He left the room, reentering a moment later with his PHS in hand. He snapped a quick photo of the picture perfect Christmas scene. Tomorrow it would be nothing more than shorn paper and ribbon strewn across the floor, but for now… Sephiroth smirked.

Perfection.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **Ha, I dunno what that was. Merry Christmas Eve! Hope you all liked this and stick around for tomorrow! I'm off to work… ugh. Let me just say, I enjoyed doing this even with all the skipping I did this year. Even with the horrid writer's block that has been clinging to me since before I even started this. I swear this year was brutal, but I loved it and I hope you all loved it too. A big thank you to everyone who has read along this year~! I appreciate you all. A very special thanks to Dark Hikari Twilight and Tobirion for their reviews. I might have just quit completely without them.

For those of you who might mind, the final chapter for Christmas Day is, as it had been both years previous, ASGZC.

Thanks a ton! I've gotta go. Love you all! Please Review!


	25. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! :3

**AN: **It's Christmas! And as such, this is the final day of the countdown. I won't be doing this again, but don't worry. I'll think of something new that's equally as great! **THANK YOU SO MUCH** to my reviewers! **Tobirion! xxTakaraxx! Dark Hikari Twilight!** I Love you guys. Really. You guys are the best!

But I digress, I present to you all this final chapter of the Advent Calendar 2013 – _ASGZC Christmas Joy~!_

**-x-MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE-x-**

**DECEMBER 25, 2013**

The door shut with a soft click and Cloud rushed to his room before the others could greet him. Several large bags full of Gaia knew what weighed on both his arms. He dropped them without much care the second he reached his bedroom. Throwing several rolls of wrapping paper onto the bed he hardly if ever used, he paused a moment to catch his breath.

This was what he got for procrastinating.

It was Christmas Ever for Gaia's sake and he had only just finished all of the Christmas shopping he needed to do in the first eight hours of the morning. Now it was close to five in the evening, already dark outside, and he was just now getting things wrapped. Honestly, he loved Christmas shopping. As long as he wasn't doing it on the day before. He'd thought he was going to be trampled at least three times today. Halfway through, he had been caught by an equally frantic Yuffie who had dragged him around with her for a few hours. They'd both endeavored to search and find everything they needed even if it killed them. Thankfully, they had and it had only taken a few shouts, some weird looks, and one or two instances where they'd had to tackle another person for the last item available in store.

Needless to say, it had been a hectic near-death experience. But now that he was done, all there was left to do was wrap. How he wished he could just cheat and stuff everything in bags with tissue paper stuffed in to cover up. That was unacceptable in a house with Zack Fair in it. Zack loved to rip into his wrapping. He did too, for that matter, and Angeal liked to save the paper for some reason no one was quite sure of. They all knew he collected it. He had a decent sized pile of the stuff stuffed into a shoebox in their hall closet. The question was, 'what was he going to do with it?' but that remained unanswered.

'Knock'

Cloud perked up, turning to the door at the sound.

'Knock, knock, knock'

"Cloud?" Speak of the devil, the blonde thought. He didn't move to answer the door, but he did turn more fully to face it.

"Yeah, Angeal?" he answered before the man could knock again. He could hear the man shift his weight on the other side of the door.

"Are you alright? You didn't even say hi when you got home," Angeal sounded both amused and slightly worried and Cloud felt a little guilty for it. He probably should have gone and said hi or at least called out an 'I'm home' when he'd gotten there.

"I'm fine," he smiled, thought the man couldn't possible see it. "I just have something to do real fast."

"Alright." Cloud wasn't sure but he assumed Angeal nodded. "Don't stay locked up all night. Come out and help me with the cookies." Cloud smiled.

"Okay!" he heard Angeal chuckle and listened as he left then turned back to his bed and the bags at his feet. Now for the tedious task of wrapping everything he bought today. With some determination he would be done in an hour. Then he'd just need to sneak them under the tree.

It was a good thing the other three were out at the moment, all busy with whatever it was they were doing. If he remembered correctly, Sephiroth was patrolling the outskirts of town and clearing monsters. Zack had probably been dragged along with Aerith on some errand or other. Genesis might have been doing some last minute shopping as well. Or maybe he was just terrorizing Kalm's poor materia salesman. Again.

Well, hopefully, they'd stay out until he was done.

~x~x~x~

There. Done! Cloud cheered for a job well done. Silently. In his head. If he cheered out loud Angeal would no doubt come back and ask if he was okay again. Now that he was done, he just had to stick them under the tree. Staring at the tall pile of boxes of varying sizes now wrapped in various colorful papers, Cloud could only wonder how this was going to work.

Perhaps he should ask for help, but…

No. He could do this himself! Set in his determination, the blonde gather a decent armful and marched himself out of his seldom used bedroom. The living room was just down the hall, and he could hear Angeal humming to himself in the kitchen. If he moved quietly and without any exaggerated movement, he should be able to do this without alerting the other man.

"Cloud?"

Dammit.

"Yes?" Cloud answered, not even trying to get a better look at his eldest lover around the pile of gifts in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Angeal sounded very amused at that moment and Cloud almost scowled.

"Uh…" how as he supposed to answer that? What did it look like he was doing? Angeal chuckled and he frowned.

"Need any help, Cloud?" the burly man asked, already reaching over to take most of the boxes into his own arms. Cloud didn't bother to answer in the negative, though he did mutter something along the lines of being able to do it himself. Angeal simply ignored him. Cloud handed over the rest of his armful and skipped back to his room for the rest of the pile. Together, he and Angeal placed his presents neatly beneath their Christmas tree.

"Now you can come and help me make those cookies. You know that if we don't make enough, Seph will eat them all before anyone else can get any."

Cloud laughed and nodded. He waited until Angeal's back was turned before he rushed forward and jumped onto the man's back. Angeal made an 'oof' sound and Cloud giggled. The other didn't move to dislodge him, however, and he settled in for the piggyback ride to the kitchen.

Once they reached the kitchen, Angeal promptly dropped him.

"Angeal!" Cloud whined, standing and rubbing his butt where he'd landed hard on the tile floor. Above him, Angeal laughed. "And your fanclub thinks you're so nice…" Cloud muttered, ducking the swat to the back of his head by an amused Angeal. Cloud grinned.

"Behave yourself," Angeal admonished, pointing to the pantry door. "Get the baking powder, flour, and sugar out of there, please."

Cloud did as asked.

~x~x~x~

The door shut with a bang and all that was seen was a silver-black blur. Cloud didn't have a chance to properly greet the man who had just come in, having his lips assaulted the second he moved to open them. The kiss lasted only a millisecond, but it was long enough to distract the blonde from the large plate of edible goodness that sat on the counter behind him. The silver blur was gone again a moment later, the plate obviously missing a handful of freshly baked cookies.

"Hello to you, too, Sephiroth," Angeal laughed. Sephiroth now sat on the couch in the living room, two handfuls of cookies on his lap and one stuffed halfway into his mouth. His cheeks bulged a bit with no doubt another two half eaten cookies. Cloud giggled at the picture his silver-haired lover made at that moment.

"ahm hmm," Sephiroth spoke through his mouthful. Cloud mentally translated the food talk as 'I'm home'. Angeal sighed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Seph," the older man admonished. Sephiroth waved it away, going back to chewing on his food. Cloud smiled at his antics and moved back with Angeal into the kitchen.

With Sephiroth home early it was probably a good idea to make more cookies.

~x~x~x~

It was about an hour to midnight when Genesis returned, having gone out and found himself a small theatre on some corner in a lesser part of Kalm. According to the redhead, some theatre troupe was putting on an adaptation of The Nutcracker. It had been decent, or so he said.

Another half hour passed before Zack came in, looking slightly tired but still plenty energetic and feeling happy. Aerith had dragged him along with Tifa to pass out wreaths and gifts and what not. It was something she usually did every year back in the slums of Midgar, but they had come to visit this year. It appeared, Aerith had decided that Kalm was as good a place as any other.

Now they all sat around the coffee table, grabbing sugar cookies off two large plates and sipping at hot chocolate as they stared at the clock and waited as seconds ticked by.

"Look!" Zack pointed at the cuckoo clock on the wall directly right of the tree. He sat on the floor closest to the tv with two large Nibel Wolves on either side of him. Azure and Teru were usually outside, but the cold had caused Angeal to have pity on the poor dogs and let them inside the house. Zack looked positively cozy with his pets wrapped around him. Cloud wondered how he wasn't sweating bullets.

"Ready?" Angeal asked and they all began the tradition. "6."

After Angeal came Sephiroth, uttering a '5' in monotone.

Genesis chirped a '4' sounding incredibly happy for once. It wasn't unusual for the redhead to be happy when he was with them, but it was a nice chance for them to actually hear his happiness in just one number.

"3," Zack continued, two excited barks sounding beside him a beat later.

"2," Cloud smiled, shouting the next number along with the others as the minute hand tocked to the '12' at the top of the clock.

"1!"

"Merry Christmas!" Zack cried, jumping up and tackling the first person he could reach which just so happened to be Sephiroth. Sephiroth rolled his eyes but smiled and leaned forward to plant a kiss to Zack's lips. Zack laughed and jumped to the next person, deciding he wanted a Christmas kiss from everyone now.

"Merry Christmas," Cloud stood beside Sephiroth and smiled, loving when the silver-haired man reached down and pulled him into his arms. Cloud wrapped his legs around the man's waist and levered himself up further to get his own Christmas kisses.

Similar exchanges took place for the next few minutes until finally Angeal became the voice of reason and made them all calm down. Reaching below the tree, Genesis pulled the first gift from the mass of presents and handed it over to Angeal.

"Here you go, Angeal," Gen grinned. "Merry Christmas from all of us!"

Angeal took the present and flipped it around until he found the seam. As per usual, he took his sweet time to unwrap the gift. He hid a smirk as he noticed both Genesis and Zack looking less patient than they probably meant to be. It was his little secret that sentiment was only half the reason he always went so slow. The other half was just him having fun watching Gen and the Puppy make faces while they waited.

Eventually, though, he had to finish up.

Reaching into the flat, medium-sized box he pulled the first of a handful of small gifts from inside. A hand drill. From Zack specifically, most likely. The man had a running joke that whatever he broke, Angeal could fix, and while it was true and he appreciated the handy new tool, he still shot the Pup an exasperated look. Zack only grinned at him.

The items he pulled next were as follows: an assortment of seeds both flowers and edible plants, a pair of work gloves (he'd already worn through his latest pair), a handful of 'helpful tip' books on gardening, cooking, and Zen, a whet stone, a new camera, and… a puppy? He raised an eyebrow at Zack who smiled and explained.

"For those nights when I'm not around to be your human teddy bear!"

Angeal wasn't sure he wanted to know how Zack had stumbled across that one, but decided not to ask. He appreciated the small stuffed dog in any case. "Thank you," he directed at all of them and was met with warm smiles and an affectionate blonde crawling into his lap to cuddle for the remainder of the night.

"Alright! It is my turn," Genesis announced, present of his own already in hand. He wasted no time tearing into the wrapping. He was sure he knew what it was, but he always looked forward to it. Sure enough, as the item was revealed he radiated smug content. It was yet another copy of Loveless. This year it was a smaller than usual volume. Pocket-sized for easy travel. The cover was slate grey with embossed print on the front that read the title as well as his name in the bottom right corner.

Genesis absolutely loved it.

He practically lived for his birthday and Christmas. The two days out of the year when his lovers deemed it appropriate to bless him with this gift of all gifts. Of course, he received things other than Loveless (as evidenced by the number of boxes under the tree with his name on them) but he would always grab this one first. As long as his loves kept buying them for him, in any case. Genesis smiled, a wide genuine smile, and thanked them. He loved these men.

"Cloud," Genesis reached and handed a package to the blonde seated in their most serious lover's lap. The youngest of them pulled the overlarge box toward him with both hands and set it on the couch seat beside where Angeal sat. The older man's arm was around his waist and he didn't bother moving it, but he leaned over it a bit to reach his gift.

He thought he knew what it was, but that couldn't be right. This box was too big for something like that. Not one to prolong the suspense any more than was necessary, Cloud tore at the wrapping on the huge box and swiftly opened it. It was exactly what he had been thinking it wasn't. Only it was three times the size he expected it to be.

It took both of his hands and one of Angeal's to haul the gigantic yellow plush from the box. It had been purposely stuffed in tight. Once the thing was out, Cloud could only gawk at it for the longest time. He laughed. It was life-sized. As in actual size. They had gotten him a giant stuffed chocobo that was twice as tall as him. The exact size of a chocobo in real life.

"You guys are insane."

It was the only thing he could say. He could feel the rumbling in Angeal's chest as the man chuckled above his head. Sephiroth also chuckled and Zack burst with a laugh at the blonde's expression. Genesis smirked and leaned over to plant a kiss on their youngest lover's forehead.

"Merry Christmas, Chocobo," the auburn-haired man's words snapped him from his minor daze and he beamed.

"I love you," he told the room at large and he was immediately crushed to a strong chest.

"We love you, too, Cloud."

"How is this going to fit in my room?" Cloud absently wondered and Zack laughed.

"It'll fit. You don't even use that room, usually. None of us really do," the raven-haired man shrugged. They all shared the master bedroom suite on the second floor and really only ever used their individual bedrooms as storage space and to hang around in when there was nothing better to do or when most of them were away on missions or the like. "It makes me wonder, though. Who do you think has more? Cloud's chocobo plushies or Genesis' copies of Loveless?"

"Hilarious, Zackary," Genesis deadpanned. They all laughed.

"I believe it is my turn then," Sephiroth spoke, his present already in his hands and the wrapping almost all the way off. He was a patient man, but when Christmas came around he was almost like a little kid. As everyone turned to watch him, the rest of the paper was made quick work of and he opened the box in his palm.

One silver eyebrow quirked up.

"A key?"

"Yup. A key," Zack confirmed.

"A key to what?" Sephiroth sounded more than a little confused.

"Nothing," Genesis shrugged. "It's simply a key."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the redhead and spiky-haired young man. He turned to Angeal for a straight answer and was met with wide blue eyes and a smile. That face alone would have placated him, but the words that accompanied it nearly had him melting.

"It's the key to my heart, Seph," Cloud spoke, keeping his eyes on Sephiroth's widened green ones. "Don't you want it?"

The blonde almost sounded like a kicked puppy and Sephiroth found himself about to apologize before he caught himself. Seph managed to make himself look away from that expression and he met Angeal's clearly amused grey eyes. It was a joke. Of course, it was. Angeal chuckled.

"It's in the driveway, Seph," the man explained and Sephiroth strode over to the window to look out at their snow-covered drive. There in the center of the mostly shoveled cement driveway sat a monster of a motorcycle. Sleek streamlined body and massive tires (two on the front, one in the back), all sexy black metal; Sephiroth could not wait to take it out and gun on some random stretch of highway. He returned to the sitting room with a pleased smirk on his lips.

"He loves it," Zack stated the obvious. "Cloudy designed it for ya, Seph. 'Geal and GenGen took the diagrams to a specialist and had it built. Merry Christmas!"

Sephiroth took two purposeful steps forward and captured Cloud's lips in a fierce kiss, following up with an appreciative kiss to Angeal and another for Genesis. He pulled away only to notice Zack pouting across the coffee table. He planted a quick kiss on the raven-haired man, too.

"Thank you," he smiled. "Puppy, It is your turn."

Zack Fair did not need to be told twice. He dove for his gift under the tree and emerged victorious. He went to shake it to attempt to guess the contents but paused.

"Uh… It's not another puppy, is it?" He wouldn't mind if it was, but he didn't want to go shaking the thing if that was the case. When the others all shook their heads and gave their own versions of a negative, Zack relaxed and proceeded to shake it. It rattled, but he couldn't figure out what it was from just the sound so he placed it on the floor.

While he would normally go about ripping the box apart, this year he opted to let his pets do it for him. He sic'd Teru and Azure on the thing. Not five seconds later, the contents of the box sat I the center of what remained of the package. Had Zack not been surprised speechless, he would have probably squee'd like a fangirl.

There in the middle of the lingering bits of cardboard sat none other than himself. Shrunk and chibified and plush.

"Aw, guys," he gushed, rushing forward to gather the look-alike plushie into his arms. "You shouldn't have! I love it! Me… I love me!"

Angeal chuckled and Cloud grinned while Genesis and Sephiroth shook their head and rolled their eyes respectively.

"There are more," Sephiroth informed. "But you can't have those until tomorrow."

"It's already tomorrow," Zack pouted. They would have none of it.

"You'll just have to wait," Genesis stated,firmly.

"But…"

"You'll live, Zack," Cloud told him, reaching over and patting his head in mock sympathy.

"But I wanna know what-" Once again he was cut off, this time by Angeal.

"Patience is a virtue, Puppy."

"Oh," Zack drawled, crossing his arms. "I get it. You all are messing with me. Well, you know what? I don't have to listen to yous. I can do what I want!" When four sets of eyes stared at him, daring him to try, Zack cowered with a pout and huffed, plopping himself onto the floor where his wolves had already made themselves comfortable. "I'm not moving from this spot until you all let me open the rest of them."

"Alright then," Genesis ignored his resolve, standing from the couch with a yawn and heading out of the room. "Goodnight."

"I will be heading to bed as well," Sephiroth spoke, following Genesis out and up the stairs but not before grabbing a handful of the cookies left on the coffee table.

On the couch, Cloud sagged more fully into Angeal's chest, not really wanting to move but knowing he would have to if he wanted to go upstairs and get into bed with the others. A hand carded through his blonde spikes a couple times and Cloud hummed contentedly. Angeal smiled. Not caring that his youngest lover was using him as a pillow and a bed in one, Angeal reached around the blonde and pulled him up as he stood. He would carry Cloud up. Cloud let another happy sound leave his throat, obviously not minding being carried around by the burly man.

"Goodnight, Pup," Angeal called over his shoulder as he moved up the stairs. Zack could hear the vague night wishes from the blonde in Angeal's arms, as well.

From his spot on the floor, Zack huffed once more. Well, fine then. He laughed to himself as he gazed around the now empty room. He loved those guys. A beat later, the raven-haired man stood with a grin and sauntered over to the stairs. He should probably go up and join them before he was left out.

"Zack!" Cloud called, sounding more awake then when he'd left some minutes ago. Zack didn't bother to call back as the blonde continued without pause. "Are you coming up or what?"

"Get your sexy ass up here, Fair!" Genesis' voice called down a second after. Zack laughed and shook his head, speeding up his ascent to the second floor.

Yes. It was a very Merry Christmas.

**-x-x-x-**

**AN: **I dunno what happened there at the end, but all in all I liked it. Written off the top of my head in true Shuffle fashion even though this wasn't written to any music. Now. It's 4am for me Christmas day, but for everyone all over the time-zones~ Merry Christmas! I hope all of you liked this final installment of my Chirstmas Present Trilogy. Well, it's a trilogy now since I'm not continuing this. It can stand alone, of course, but the previous years' ASGZC December 25 chapters come chronologically before this one. In case you didn't know. It has been a bit taxing but very fulfilling journey for me this year, writing this and I'm glad so many of you stuck with me and read and loved this along with me. Thanks.

Merry Christmas to all and everyone! I hope it is/was amazing and that you all had tons of fun. Hope you felt the love and wish you all many amazing things today and in the coming year! Most of all, I hope that you enjoy the time you spend with family and friends on this day and appreciate the love. Beyond that, Have Fun! I hope this little story brought some little piece of fun and love to you for the while that you took to read it!

Lots of love to all my readers, from YaoiWolf with Love! **MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


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